Parasocial Relationships

• Parasocial relationship

  A one sided relationship where the person spends a lot of time and emotional energy on the other person, who is usually a celebrity and is unaware of their existence.
• 3 Levels of parasocial relationships

  • Entertainment social - being attracted to a favourite celebrity for fun or gossip
  • Intense personal- obsessive thoughts and compulsive thoughts about the celebrity begin to arise
  • Borderline pathological- obsessive thoughts give rise to uncontrollable fantasies and extreme behaviour, stalking may begin here
• A03- supporting evidence for levels

  Mccutcheon et al

  • Used the CAS to measure the level of PRs
  • Ps who scored as borderling pathological or intense personal tended to experience a high degree of anxiety in any intimate relatinships
  • This suggests that celebrity worshippers can be classified into three different categories that are predictive of actual behaviour
  • This means that this has predictive validity
• Absorption-addiction model (Mccutcheon et al)

  2002

  • An individual becomes absorbed in following a celebrity. This involves focusing their attention onto the celebrity and believing that they have a relationship with them
  • They identify with them and become preoccupied with their existence
  • This relationship is a form of escapism
  • If absorption is high enough, then the person may become more and more obsessed leading to extreme and delusional behaviour to sustain the relationship
  • Can happen due to mental health issues or a crisis
• Attachment theory

  • wanting to be close to a celebrity is a way that fans exhibit proximity seeking behaviour
  • another way is collecting trivial information about them

  Attachment behaviours linked to PRs:

  • secure base
  • presence of celeb makes you feel secure
  • a sense of loss when celeb is absent which is characterised by anxiety
  • separation anxiety
  • using celeb as a source of comfort
• Attachment theory continued

  • insecure resistant is more likely to form a PRs due to the fact their unfulfilled needs will be met and a PR is not accompanied by the threat of a rejection
  • avoidant attachments are least likely to form a PSR due to the fact that they do not like to get too close
• A03- absorption addiction model

  Maltby et al (2005)

  • studied females and males aged 14-16
  • looked at link between body image and celebrity worship
  • those who reported an intense personal PR with a female celebrity whose body shape they admired tended to have a poor body image
  • supports the model as it confirms a correlation between the two
  • study warns dangers of PSR in young teenage girls and was said to be a precursor for eating disorders
• A03- attachment theory


  • 299 Ps
  • Ps with insecure attachment were no more likely to form PSR with celebrities than those with a secure attachment
  • shows that PRs are not necessarily a way of compensating attachment
• METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

  • many of these research methods involve self report data
  • this will often involve social desirability
  • most studies use correlation analysis rather than cause and efect which means that we cannot conclude a high level of celeb worship is directly caused by a poor body image of vice versa
• A03- parasocial relationships + loneliness

  • some studies find a relationship between the intensity of a PSR and the intensity of loneliness

  EYAL AND COHEN

  • 279 students were fans of Friends
  • researchers found evidence of a link between the intensity of a PSR and loneliness experienced in a parasocial breakup right after watching the last episode of Friends
• Cross cultural research

  Germany (individualist) and Mexico (collectivist)

  • researchers found that Ps displayed similar PSR to Harry and other characters across both countries
  • fans were shown to have similarities with their own lives and also in the films/books
• Further research supports the link between attachment type and PSR breakup. 381 adults responded to how they would react if their fav characters were taken off air and their attachment styles. Negative reactions were linked to intensity of PSR with fav character and their attachment style. The most negative reactions were given by anxious ambivalent. This finding is similar to reactions experienced in close relationships.