The ‘Euphoria’ effect: A popular HBO show, Gen Z, and drug policy beliefs

Anthony Gierzynski, Madeleine Blaber, Marjorie Brown, Sophie Feldman, Hannah Gottschalk, Peninah Hodin and Emma Hoechner

Social Science Quarterly, 2024, vol. 105, issue 2, 193-210

Abstract: Objective Can a fictional show affect its audience's perspectives on the issue of drug use and addiction in society? This article aims to answer that question. Methods We use a survey with an embedded experiment to assess the relationship between the popular HBO show Euphoria and attitudes of Gen Z on the issue of drugs, including: feelings toward drug users and those caught up in drug addiction; beliefs regarding the causes of drug addiction; and, attitudes toward harm reduction, treatment, and punitive drug policies. Subjects were recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Results We found that reevoking the show by showing photos of two of the main characters led to drug attitudes consistent with the messages about drugs found in Euphoria. We also found that self‐reported exposure to the show was associated with perspectives on drugs consistent with the content of the show for respondents who scored higher on individual transportability—results that conform closely to theoretical expectations. The fact that these results were found in a study 8 months after the final episode of Euphoria was aired hints at the durability of the show's effects. Conclusions The results add to the growing body of research on the political effects of entertainment media and provide additional validation of new and important measures of the propensity of individuals to be transported by narratives and eudaimonic motivation in entertainment media choice.

Date: 2024
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