[James]

I'm a good guy, get me out of here

FERGUS SHEPPARD
MEDIA CORRESPONDENT

REALITY TV contestants are not the self-obsessed, nasty people we might think but are nicer than the rest of us, psychologists have concluded.

Reality shows have thrived on the headline-grabbing antics of such figures as "Nasty" Nick Bateman from the first Big Brother series or Paul Danan from ITV's Celebrity Love Island.

But the British Psychological Society's conference in Perth will be told today that the average contestant is, in fact, incredibly well balanced.

That conclusion is advanced by Cynthia McVey and Jacqui McKechnie of Glasgow Caledonian University in research revealed to the Psychological Society's Scottish conference.

The psychologists assessed the personalities of 85 people - 44 men and 41 women aged between 19 and 61 - who had applied to take part in two reality television programmes (The Heat is On and The Ship).

Their finding is that those who choose to compete for cash prizes inside the camera-infested world of reality television have different - and more desirable - personality characteristics than the rest of the population. "Those who apply to take part in reality TV programmes are more open, agreeable and conscientious than those in the general population," the Perth conference will hear.

This is not the first time psychologists have profiled those desperate to appear on reality TV. Earlier research concluded that reality TV hopefuls were "more extroverted and less neurotic" than the average member of the public.

However the Glasgow academics decided to study the less obvious personality traits of those prepared to bare their psyches for primetime viewing.

The researchers had already anticipated that potential contestants would score higher for openness, which they define as a person's willingness to experience novel situations.

However, the unexpected outbreak of agreeableness detected among reality TV contestants is, the psychologists suggest, a sign that they are more ready to be team spirited. The research concludes that agreeableness means they could be more "malleable" in dealing with production companies - in other words, they will do virtually anything to get on the television.

Ms McVey and Ms McKechnie say the would-be reality TV stars also scored higher than the general population on conscientiousness, which they defined as "the determination, reliability and the degree to which a person is likely to complete a task".

This iron willpower clearly pays dividends on shows like I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, where contestants have to complete various "Bushtucker trials" - often involving surviving bowls of live rats - to win meals for their fellow camp-mates.

Even a cursory glance at the recent history of I'm a Celebrity might prove the new theory. Perma-tanned antiques expert David Dickinson, recently elected leader of the ten contestants, won accolades from his fellow contestants for his team-spirited nature and ferocious determination to complete tasks.

In an earlier series, Jordan overcame claims that she was a seething nest of neuroticism and was considered very agreeable by other camp-mates, particularly Peter Andre.

The bundle of endearing personality traits now thought to constitute reality TV hopefuls is complemented by the fact that they will, quite literally, play the game. The psychologists suggested "reality TV applicants might perceive that there would be a degree of rule-following and 'toeing the line' and were happy to accept this".

Even the horror stories of former reality stars who claim the phenomenon ruined their lives aren't a deterrent - because the psychologists believe they are, quite simply, a breed apart.

"This study suggests that this is because those who apply have different personalities than those who would not."

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2298772005

[James]

For what it is worth, I agree with a lot of that. Reality TV contestants get so much criticism from people like us for three reasons, in my opinion:

These shows are set up to encourage public involvement and debate.

Not many of us would ever go on a show like that so it's difficult to empathise with the people who do.

These shows hold up a mirror to ourselves, and we don't always like what we see.

The only thing I would say though is that they only looked at two shows, and the people who go on those shows might not be typical of the genre.

[Ruth]

I agree with you James, although I would say that 'Nasty' Nick's antics from BB1 seem pretty tame compared to what this years motley crew got up to!

Although I think in situations like I'm A Celebrity...people do tend to pull together, because they can find themselves in some quite scary situations, whereas the same cannot be said for Big Brother, where there is no need to pull together really, and clearly the contestants are picked with conflict in mind.