Expectations in Film Relationships: The Suffocation Model in Motion Pictures

Author

Rachel McNeil, Union College
Lindsay C. Morton, Marywood UniversityFollow

Volume

29

Number

1

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2023

Abstract

The suffocation model states that marriage expectations in American culture have changed across time (Finkel et al., 2014). To test whether or not the tenets of this model appear in popular media, we examined the representation of love, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization needs in romantic relationships of films from the companionate era (1850-1965) and the self-expressive era (1965-present). Participants (N = 56) rated need fulfillment and expectations within the main romantic relationship in an assigned film. The results suggest that the shift in needs posited by the suffocation model was reflected in high-grossing romance films from the past 100 years. Research limitations and future directions are discussed along with the implications for the bidirectional influence of culture and film.

Keyword

suffocation model, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, romantic relationships, film, media portrayals

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Recommended Citation

McNeil, Rachel and Morton, Lindsay C. (2023) "Expectations in Film Relationships: The Suffocation Model in Motion Pictures," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 29: No. 1, Article 29.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol29/iss1/29