Electronic Theses and Dissertation

Sinetron merupakan media massa yang tidak hanya berfungsi sebagai hiburan, tetapi juga dapat memengaruhi ekspektasi para penonton dalam memandang hubungan percintaan. Salah satu sinetron yang berhasil mencuri perhatian penonton adalah sinetron Asmara Gen Z, Sinetron ini menampilkan drama remaja Indonesia yang mengangkat cerita kehidupan, persahabatan, keluarga, serta konflik percintaan yang cenderung dialami generasi muda dalam lingkungan sekolah. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana sinetron Asmara Gen Z dapat memengaruhi ekspektasi percintaan mahasiswi Universitas Syiah Kuala. Penelitian ini menggunakan Teori Kultivasi yang dikembangkan oleh George Gerbner. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode kualitatif eksplanatif dengan pendekatan fenomenologi dan menggunakan teknik analisis data kualitatif induktif. Data diperoleh melalui wawancara semi terstruktur terhadap lima mahasiswi yang berasal dari fakultas berbeda di Universitas Syiah Kuala, dengan kriteria: mahasiswi aktif S1 Universitas Syiah Kuala, (rutin menonton sinetron Asmara Gen Z minimal 3 episode perminggu, dan intens menonton minimal 100 episode atau selama 3 bulan sejak awal tayang. Ekspektasi percintaan yang awalnya terbentuk dari keluarga, pertemanan, dan pengalaman pribadi menjadi lebih terarah setelah menonton, mengarah pada nilai-nilai manajemen konflik, kepercayaan, batasan diri, komunikasi, romantis, perhatian, pintar dan fisik. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa sinetron Asmara Gen Z tidak membentuk ekspektasi percintaan dari nol, melainkan memperkuat, mengubah atau menambah standar hubungan yang sudah dimiliki informan sebelumnya.
Kata Kunci: Sinetron, Asmara Gen Z, Teori Kultivasi, Ekspektasi Percintaan, Mahasiswi

Soap operas are a form of mass media that serve not only as entertainment but also as a medium that can influence viewers' expectations of romantic relationships. One soap opera that has successfully attracted public attention is Asmara Gen Z. This Indonesian teen drama portrays the lives of adolescents, highlighting friendship, family, and romantic conflicts commonly experienced by the younger generation within a school environment. This study aims to examine how the Asmara Gen Z soap opera influences the romantic relationship expectations of female students at Syiah Kuala University. The study employs the Cultivation Theory developed by George Gerbner. It uses an explanatory qualitative method with a phenomenological approach and applies inductive qualitative data analysis techniques. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five female students from different faculties at Syiah Kuala University. The participants met the following criteria: active undergraduate students at Syiah Kuala University, regularly watched Asmara Gen Z at least three episodes per week, and had watched intensively for a minimum of 100 episodes or continuously for at least three months since the soap opera first aired. The findings indicate that the participants' romantic relationship expectations, which were initially shaped by family, friendships, and personal experiences, became more directed after watching the soap opera, emphasizing values such as conflict management, trust, personal boundaries, communication, romance, attentiveness, intelligence, and physical appearance. This study concludes that Asmara Gen Z does not create romantic relationship expectations from scratch; rather, it reinforces, modifies, or adds to the relationship standards that the participants had previously developed. Keywords: Soap Opera, Asmara Gen Z, Cultivation Theory, Romantic Relationship Expectations, Female University Students.