parasocial relationships

• what is a parasocial relationship?

  'celebrity worship' - a one-sided, unreciprocated relationship where one committed person invests lots of energy/time but the other likely isn't aware of their existence
• what or who can parasocial relationships be formed with?


  celebrities football teamsbrandsfictional characters
• what will exam questions on parasocial relationships ask about?

  levels of PRabsorption-addiction modelattachment theory
• who identified the different levels of parasocial relationships and how did they do it?

  Maltby et al did a large scale survey using the 'celebrity attitude scale
• what do the levels of PR describe?


  attitudes linked to progressively more extreme forms of celebrity worship
• name the levels of parasocial relationships

  entertainment-socialintense-personalborderline pathological
• briefly describe the entertainment-social level

  least intense levelcelebrities viewed as a source of entertainment + a topic for social engagement
• briefly describe the intense-personal level


  intermediate levelmore personal involvement in the PRmay have intense feelings for the celebrity and consider them as a 'soulmate
• briefly describe the borderline pathological level


  most intense levelexperience uncontrollable fantasies and extreme behaviours e.g. willing to do something illegal for the celebrity
• what is the absorption addiction model?

  an explanation of why people develop PRs then go through the three levels
• what does the absorption addiction model suggest?


  people form PRs because of deficiencies in their lives e.g. poor mental health the PR is an escape from reality and lets them find fulfilment they can't achieve in real-life relationships
• use the absorption addiction model to explain how people progress through the levels of PRs

  person has an entertainment-social relationship with a celebrity then experience a personal crisis so want to escape realityabsorption - they want to fulfil themselves through the relationship with the celebrity and they focus on them, becoming preoccupied with them addiction - they're driven to be closer with the celebrity which may lead to delusional thinking and extreme behaviour e.g. stalking the celebrity as you think they want to reciprocate the feelings
• give two strengths of the absorption-addiction model

  :) valid explanation - tendency to form PRs seems to be a universal human trait across cultures e.g. Schmid and Klimmt found similar levels of parasocial attachment to Harry Potter in Germany and Mexico (individualist + collectivist) so we have an innate mechanism which lets us escape into PRs to cope with stress:) central idea that there's a link between poor psychological functioning and celebrity worship supported by research e.g. Maltby linked ES level with extroverted traits, IS level with neurotic traits, BP level with psychotic traits - correlational evidence to support AA model
• give a weakness of the absorption-addiction model

  :( supporting research is correlational so cause and effect can't be established between poor psychological functioning + extreme celebrity worship - effect may be the other way around e.g. celebrity worship causes a person to withdraw from real-life social relationships so they're reliant on PRs - validity of AA model not well supported
• what is the attachment theory explanation?

  alternative explanation of why people form PRs
• what did Bowlby suggest?

  problems with attachment to the primary caregiver in the first 5 years leads to social, emotional and intellectual difficulties later
• what two forms of insecure attachment did Ainsworth describe?

  insecure-avoidant (type a) - due to a rejecting mother insensitive to the child's needsinsecure-resistant (type C) - due to inconsistent carer sometimes sensitive/sometimes rejecting of the child
• so what does the attachment model suggest?

  insecure-resistant types should be most likely o form PRs as it allows them to have relationship needs met whilst avoiding the risk of rejection/break-up like in real-life relationships insecure-avoidant types should be most likely to avoid pain/rejection of any type of relationship
• give a weakness of the attachment theory explanation

  :( research studies don't support central ideas e.g. McCutcheon et al found insecurely attached individuals were no more likely to form PRs than securely attached people - not supported as a valid explanation of PRs forming