From Love at First Sight to Soul Mate: The Influence of Romantic Ideals in Popular Films on Young People's Beliefs about Relationships

Despite their popularity, few studies have systematically investigated the content of romantic comedy movies or the effects they may have on viewers. We conducted two studies to address this gap. The first study was a content analysis of the romantic ideals embedded in the top 52 highest grossing romantic comedies from the last 10 years. Results demonstrated that romantic ideals and challenges are prevalent in these films. The second study was a large-scale survey of 335 undergraduate students, who were asked to report on their romantic comedy movie viewing and beliefs about romance. Results showed that individuals who watched these films in order to learn reported stronger endorsement of romantic ideal beliefs than those who did not watch to learn.