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As a college student, I do so much reading and thinking on a daily basis that sometimes I need an escape from it all. So, I watch the Bachelor. For two hours a week, I can get away with losing brain cells instead of gaining them and it is wonderful. Recently, my once mindless escape started making me think. As a psychology major, I started to wonder what types of predispositions and circumstances must combine to make these women do and say some of the outlandish things that occur on this show. So I began to think about The Bachelor from a psychological perspective.
The first explanation I found for their behavior was contained within the scarcity principle, this is the idea that when demand exceeds supply the limited supply suddenly begins to look very attractive. If you pay attention to the way things unfold on the show, you’ll notice that almost all of the women “fall in love” almost instantly despite only having met the bachelor for a few minutes. This can be explained by the fact that the demand for attention far exceeds the supply of limited attention that can be given by one man. The women feed off one another’s attractions and very rarely do they actually reject the rose that is presented to them. It's not unlike blindly following a trend regardless of how ridiculous it actually may be. The power imbalance of the “relationship” in the show also affects the way the women act. Instead of a relationship where the man and woman are both perceived as equals the man is perceived as the ultimate “prize” which implies that he is more valuable than the woman in the relationship. This dynamic creates an even more dramatic reaction when the women feel as though their relationship is threatened.
The more I looked into it the more I realized that a lot of these circumstances are strategically manipulated by the producers to get the most entertaining reactions out of the women. Another explanation for their behavior lies within the constant proximity of the open bar. The producers are strategic about the constant availability of alcohol, the more drinks they give the women the more heightened their emotions become and the more fully immersed they are in the experience. The reactions of a woman who has been drinking all day are bound to be more entertaining than that of a woman who hasn’t. Further, the producers set certain guidelines for living in the house. The women are kept away from family and friends with all contact cut off from the outside world, living in isolation with their biggest competitors creates an almost alternate reality where the only thing that matters is winning the competition. To these women, vying for the affection of one man becomes almost a life or death scenario.
Ultimately, the culmination of these factors sheds light on the strategic manipulation that goes into the production of this show. Nothing is coincidental as the producers strive to bring about the most drama and conflict to increase their ratings. After looking into the psychology behind The Bachelor, I doubt I will ever be able to watch the show mindlessly again.
Abigail Cheek is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2023. She is studying psychology, history, and political science at the University of Louisville.