Omg, scientists say the shows you watch on Netflix reveal tonnes about your personality

Let’s not lie, from Griselda to One Day to The Gentlemen, Netflix has had us by the absolute throat for the first three months of 2024. And it turns out what we’re streaming each night could tell us a lot about our overall vibe.

Rom coms, true crime, nostalgia, drama, scientists have found personality indicators relating to pretty much every big genre. So, in case you’re curious, here’s what your viewing habits say about you and the effect they could be having on your life:

Ok, so here’s what your Netflix watching says about you, according to scientific research:

Romance dramas – you’re dying for a relationship

Sooo, if you’re spending all your time watching TV dramas like One Day and Normal People you’re essentially just a massive romantic. Previously studies had shown that drama viewers were actually damaging their chances of romance, but 2019 study by Valeria Kretz found that you’d actually be more likely to have a more enjoyable relationship.

“TV drama viewing could encourage the belief that men and women vary dramatically in their needs, which is also considered maladaptive,” she wrote. “Thus, through the encouragement of maladaptive beliefs, TV drama viewing could undermine relationship satisfaction…In the present study, viewing TV dramas was associated with greater relationship satisfaction.”

True crime – you’re planning for the worst case scenario 

Women consume way more true crime content than men and studies have found it’s basically because we’re prepping for the worst cast scenario. According to a YouGov study, 58% of women like true crime and watch it to feel empathy for the victims and to avoid the same thing happening to them.

And, essentially, once you start watching true crime you can’t stop. Research by Amanda M. Vicary and R. Chris Fraley found that true crime scares the people who watch it, which triggers them to watch even more.

Same comfort shows on repeat – You’re kinda lonely 

We all have comfort shows for a reason and now scientific studies have backed up what we probably knew all along— you’re rewatching Friends for the 98765th time because you’re a little bit lonely.

Research shows that, in watching old TV shows, we feel protected from feelings of rejection or drops in self esteem. Which sort of explains why we’re all watching The Parent Trap while scrolling on Hinge every hungover Sunday. Balance.

Reality TV – You need to get a life 

Hate to break it to you, but if you’re spending all your time watching reality TV then you might be trying to live through the cast of the show rather than living a life of your own. Essentially, you’re satisfying all your basic human urges (socialising, romance, revenge etc) by watching TV.

“By far, the largest significant effect was for the motive of status,” research by Ohio State University claimed. “The more reality TV shows a person liked, the more status-oriented the person was.The second largest significant difference concerned the basic motive of vengeance. People who watched and enjoyed reality television placed a higher value on vengeance than did people who did not watch such shows.”

However, there were some positives: “People who liked two or more reality television shows on our list tended to be more motivated by social life,” they added, “less motivated by honour, more concerned with order, and more motivated by romance, as compared to those who did not watch any of the reality television shows in our list.”

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Featured image credit via Netflix