Uni class analyses behaviour of Married At First Sight contestants
Reality show Married At First Sight is being used in university lecture theatres to train the next generation of psychologists. The lecturer in charge of the unit said the ratings juggernaut is “topical and something the older and younger generation watch”.
Reality show Married At First Sight is being used in university lecture theatres to train the next generation of psychologists.
Episodes of the Channel 9 series are being shown to psychology students at Griffith University who must then dissect them and study the outrageous behaviour of the contestants.
Lecturer Dr Nicola Sheeran, runs a course at Griffiths called Interpersonal Skills “where we teach active listening, how we send messages appropriately and basic communication skills”.
She said: “I include MAFS because it’s topical, timely and something that both the younger and older generation of students both watch.
“I show clips of good communication but often where it has gone wrong, then we unpack why and what the skills are behind why it has gone wrong.”
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The television ratings juggernaut features 12 couples who have never met before agreeing to “marry” each other the first time they meet after being matched by three relationship experts.
While the marriages are not legally binding, the couples spend months living together before deciding whether they will continue with their relationship when the show ends.
With cameras rolling around the clock, the show captures both the most intimate moments as well as the firey confrontations between the newlyweds, who not only spend time alone together, but who socialise with the other MAFS contestants.
One of the show’s most memorable confrontations took place this week when fiery Cyrell Jimenez Paule got into a screaming match with fellow wife Martha, who started rumours about her passive husband Nic Jovanovic.
One minute the two women were seen talking it out, before Cyrell grabs Martha by the shirt, smashes her salad bowl and storms out of her marital apartment, saying Martha is “as fake as her tits and her nose”.
Dr Sheeran showed a similar episode in class this week to demonstrate positive and negative communication.
Student Maddy Flatley, who is a first-year psychology student at the Queensland university, said the unit was “the best class ever”.
“This was our first lecture in interpersonal skills so pretty much we were talking about communication skills and how it is important in jobs and life in general,” she said.
“We applied the skills to real life situations. We watched a clip of MAFS with Cyril and Nic and we were analysing their situation. The lecturer was getting us to have a class discussion about them.
“We were reviewing their conversations and talking about how Cyrell could have acted better and what Nic could have done to resolve their conflict in a nicer, more formal way. Most people were saying Cyrell could have calmed herself down and formally addressed the situation in a better way.
“Her listening skills could have been better. It was a small situation which blew up.
“All my friends said they wish their university did the same thing.”
Psychology students can go on to a wide range of roles including couples counselling, marriage guidance and family support.
Clinical psychologist Dr Jodie Bradman, a senior teaching fellow at Bond University, also uses reality TV clips to teach students, but opts for a more G-rated program.
“The clips I use are from an ABC reality show called Making Couples Happy, based on a research approach to improving communication,” Dr Bradman said.
“I use the show to demonstrate some of the concept I am talking about and the four destructive ways of communicating in a relationship.
“It is a helpful way to introduce the theory.”
While Dr Bradman hasn’t ruled out airing MAFS in her lectures in the future, she said: “When you look at the dinner party interactions on MAFS, often those responses are exaggerated because they are fuelled by alcohol. So you see an exaggerated application of the theory. It is the perfect storm really.”
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