Parasocial Relationships

• What is a Parasocial Relationship?

  A one sided unreciprocated relationship, usually with a celebrity or fictional character
• What are the 3 levels of a Parasocial Relationship?

  1. Entertainment-social phase
  2. Intense-social phase
  3. Borderline-pathological phase
• What are the features of the Entertainment-social phase?

  • Celebrities are viewed as a source of entertainment and fuel for social interaction
  • Friends may enjoy discussing characters from their favourite TV show or the actors in OK Magazine
  • These types of PRs provide a source of gossip
• What are the features of the Intense-social phase?

  • Includes unusual behaviours such as spending large sums of money on celebrity-related objects
  • Reflects a greater level of personal connection to the celebrity
  • The person may consider the celebrity their 'soul mate' but has no concrete plans to meet them
• What are the features of the Borderline-pathological phase?

  • The person has frequent obsessive thoughts about the celebrity, interfering with day to day life
  • May end up stalking the celebrity, believing their relationship is real
  • It is the strongest level of celebrity worship, featuring uncontrollable fantasies
• What is the Absorption-addiction model?

  • Parasocial relationships make up for personal deficiencies (e.g. a poor social life)
  • They provide an escape from mundane life
• What is Absorption in the absorption-addiction model?

  • The person begins to identify with the celebrity, fulfilling a need
• What is addiction in the absorption-addiction model?

  • The person needs to increase their contact to get satisfaction leading to more extreme behaviour and thinking
• Who contributed to the Attachment Theory as an explanation of Parasocial Relationships?

  • Ainsworth
  • Bowlby
• What did Ainsworth say about Attachment Theory?

  • Insecure Resistant = Most likely to form a PR because they want a relationship with no threat of rejection
  • Insecure Avoidant = Least likely to form a PR as they avoid relationships
• What did Bowlby say about Attachment Theory?

  • Early attachment difficulties causes as preference for a PR as they do not require social skills
• Strength of Parasocial Relationships:

  • Research has found that a PR can have positive effects
  • E.g. Children learn more from TV characters that they have meaningful relationships with
• Limitation of the Absorption-Addiction model:

  • Lacks explanatory power
  • It describes the stages but does not explain why the different forms develop
  • It doesn't tell us how to prevent dangerous PRs
• Strength of Attachment Theory:

  • Tells us how we can prevent dangerous PRs from forming
  • By tackling early attachment issues (e.g. Maternal Deprivation and Insecure attachment types) we can prevent the development of PRs
• Limitation of Attachment Theory - Lacks Research Support:

  • McCucheon
  • Found that participants with insecure attachments were no more likely to form PRs
  • Decreases validity of explanation
• Limitation of Explanations of Parasocial Relationships:

  • Ignores Biological factors of the formation of PRs
  • Scmid
  • Found similar levels of attachment to Harry Potter in Germany (Individualist) and Mexico (collectivist)
  • Suggests PRs are a cultural universal