A Study on Women’s Uses and Gratifications through Watching Television Serials

This study, conducted in the field of sociology of communication, seeks to investigate the different dimensions of women’s use and gratification through watching television soap operas (WUGSO), as well as to analyze the influence of socio-economic status (SES) on the degree of WUGSO. The Use and Gratification approach has been applied as the theoretical framework of this study. The research was conducted via surveys, and data was also collected through questionnaires along with interviews. The subjects of the study were 383 married women, all residents of Esfahan, and aged between 2054. The findings of the study showed that the average time spent watching TV was 3.24 hours per day. Many respondents regularly watched soap operas, which were indeed their first priority in their TV viewing patterns. Respondents were moderately gratified with watching soap operas. Furthermore, there was a significant and reverse relationship between SES of women and the degree of their use and gratification. For example, time for watching soap operas and also the degree of gratification among those who belonged to higher SES, was less than their counterparts in the lower SES.