Talk Show Viewing Motives: an Exploratory Perspective

The purpose of this thesis was to explore the relaltionship between gender, age, and talk show viewing motives. Talk show viewing motives were operationalized using Rubin\u27s motive instrument. Students from six randomly selected introductory communication classes, members of a nontraditional student organization (OASIS), and residents of a retirement home were given Rubin\u27s instrument to assess their talk show viewing motives. The results, listed in order of frequency of response, showed that the three primary viewing motives of talk shows were entertainment, to pass time, and relaxation. Quantitative analysis of the data revealed that women viewed talk shows significantly more each week than men, but the motives for viewing televised talk shows were not different between the genders. Significant differences were also found between subjects\u27 life stages and six of the viewing motives: companionship, pass time, entertainment, social interaction, information, and arousal