Dysfunctional romantic beliefs of heterosexual women undergraduate students: the role of traditional media and social media

Abstract

This study aimed to explore dysfunctional romantic beliefs among women undergraduate students and the meanings they attribute to romantic messages received from traditional media and social media. Using a qualitative research design, twenty heterosexual undergraduate women participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis, and findings were supported with participants’ direct quotations to enhance interpretive depth. The findings indicated that participants perceived both traditional and social media as influential sources of messages about romance. While they emphasized that the content and presentation of these messages differed across media channels, they reported being consistently exposed to romantic narratives through both. At the same time, participants generally did not describe themselves as directly internalizing these messages; rather, they viewed many of the romantic relationships portrayed on social media as artificial, idealized, and inconsistent with real-life. Nevertheless, the results suggested that repeated exposure to media messages contributes to constructing romanticism as a relational necessity, potentially shaping romantic expectations in dysfunctional ways. Among the romantic beliefs identified, the strongest endorsement was for the belief in a "one and only" partner, followed by the “idealization” and the belief that "love conquers all." In contrast, the belief in "love at first sight" received the lowest level of endorsement. The findings are discussed within the broader context of gender roles and Turkish cultural norms, highlighting how media representations intersect with culturally embedded expectations surrounding romantic relationships.