magazine issue 10 2010 / Issue 11

Positive Psychology and the Importance of Close Relationships in TV Sitcoms: That 70s Show, Entourage, and How I Met Your Mother

• written by Dylan Selterman
• edited by Ashley Waggoner Denton

The characters in Entourage displayed this mechanism, when Vince achieved the peak of his career and there was no longer such great need to have Turtle and Eric close at hand. They both felt compelled to venture out and work towards living their own optimal lives. Turtle wanted to start his own business, and Eric wanted to work toward a promising career as a talent manager and start a family. Neither Turtle nor Eric was content to ride Vince’s coattails; they each wanted an independent life of their own, while maintaining their close friendships. Vince supported their aspirations for autonomy, recognizing how this would help them achieve their personal life goals.

Conclusion

The positive psychology movement has spurred multiple lines of research devoted to studying how close relationships are beneficial to people’s lives. These relationships provide psychological nourishment, giving people motivation and confidence to branch out, take risks, and live a more optimal life. The characters on That 70s Show, Entourage, and How I Met Your Mother exhibit many of these behavioral mechanisms. While they playfully badger each other, they also provide instrumental and emotional support, which allows each of them to flourish in their life pursuits. These shows also demonstrate the overlap between dynamics of careers and social bonds, illustrating how relationships and work are not separate, but intertwined. The deep interpersonal bonds of friendship and love cut across all of life’s variables. The characters display the meaning of close relationships: they are the backbone of the life well-lived.

References

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