The Road to Moral Superiority Was Paved with Hate-Watching: A Qualitative Examination of Why People Watch Things They Hate

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Abstract

The present study used semi-structured interviews (N = 23) with college students to explore hate-watching, defined here as repeatedly watching people, things, or content we hate for the purpose of achieving some gratification. Several important themes emerged including a pronounced desire for (and sense of) moral superiority among hate-watchers in which downward social comparison played a role, confirmation of existing beliefs, attitudes, values, and feelings, a desire to understand "the other side" as perceived by hate-watchers, a sense that the practice was at times an addictive “guilty pleasure” as evidenced by self-reported and often physiological responses, and something over which audiences can socially bond. The findings offer new and exciting insight into modern viewing habits as they tend to defy the conventional wisdom of the media literature regarding audiences gravitating toward content that affirms and reinforces existing beliefs, attitudes, values, and cognition. The implication is that hate-watching as a phenomenon, may fuel societal polarization.

Author

• T. Phillip Madison, University of Louisiana - Lafayette