A UCLA study found that teens are more interested in watching stories about friendships and platonic relationships, and pay less attention to sex in movies and TV shows. That’s one of the key findings in the latest edition of the university’s Teens and Screens report, which surveyed nearly 1,500 young people aged 10 to 24 across the country.
According to the report, 63.5% of young people prefer “play”-related content this year, up from 55% in 2023.
“Our findings seemed to confirm trends revealed in last year’s data: Young people are increasingly attracted to the same outdated and unrelatable romantics,” said Alisha J. Hines, director of research at the center. “The metaphor is that we’re tired of seeing it on screen.” “Teenagers and young adults want to see stories that more faithfully reflect all the nuanced relationships.”
More than a third of the young people surveyed, or 36.2%, said they were concerned about the rich and famous (7.2%), real-life issues affecting society (13.9%), and personal issues they could relate to (24.2%). They said they prefer watching content that features fantasy worlds rather than stories. %) or other genres (3.3%). The popularity of fantasy content among age groups has increased by 56% compared to last year. For the third year in a row, hopeful and uplifting content that shows people overcoming hardships came in first place.
“Having been exposed to significant stressors during their formative years, such as the 24-hour news cycle detailing events such as COVID-19, mass shootings, divisive politics, and war, young people are overwhelmingly experiencing crisis fatigue. ,” said Founder and Executive Director Yalda T. Uhls. He is the director of the center, a co-author of the study, and an adjunct professor in the UCLA Department of Psychology. “This generation cares deeply about many social issues, but they also need a mental break, many of them to free themselves from the many challenges that come with the reality of being young today. , it’s no surprise that we’re looking to the media for stories that have a message of fantasy and hope.”
The good news for the film industry is that the report found that younger audiences prefer going to the cinema over going to concerts or playing video games. Streaming new movie premieres on the device ranked fourth on the list.
The entire “Teens & Screens” report can be downloaded from the UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers website.
