Parasocial Relationships

• What is a parasocial relationship?


  • A one-sided, unreciprocated relationships an individual perceives them to be in with a famous personality
• Explain how an individual may act in a parasocial relationship?

  • Spends a lot of time, energy and emotion while the other person is unaware of their existence
• Who came up with the celebrity attitude scale

  Giles and Maltby (2006)
• What are the three levels of the celebrity attitude scale?

  1. Entertainment social
  2. Intense-personal
  3. Borderline Pathological
• Describe the entertainment social level?

  • Individual feels a mild level of involvement with the celebrity
  • Possibly some attraction
  • Mostly viewed as a source of entertainment
  • Watch celebrity to “keep up” with them for gossip
• Describe the intense-personal level?

  • Individual feels intermediate level of involvement with a celebrity
  • Experience intense and compulsive feelings
  • No expectation to interact with the other person
  • May regard them as their soulmate
• Explain borderline pathological level?


  • Strongest level of involvement with a celebrity
  • auncontrollable feelings for and fantasise about the celebrity
  • Believe themselves to be in a relationship which may cause extreme behaviour
  • May follow them or enter their home
• Who came up with the absorption-addiction model?

  McCutcheon (2002)
• Who came up with the attachment theories explanation?

  Bowlby (1969) and Ainsworth (1979)
• what does the absorption-addiction model suggest?

  • Parasocial relationships form when an individual suffers from some deficiency in their own life
  • May be due to low self-esteem or lack of fulfilment
  • Individual may find escape by focussing attention on a celebrity
• Explain absorption?


  An individual over-identifies with a celebrity and try to ‘absorb’ them into their life through giving attention
• Explain Addiction?


  An individual seeks stronger and closer involvement with a celebrity. This may lead to extreme behaviour and delusional thinking
• Describe the attachment theory explanation for parasocial relationships?

  • Bowlby argued attachment difficulties in childhood could lead to emotional difficulties in adulthood
  • Ainsworth suggested an insecurely attached may go on to form insecure romantic relationships
• Explain the likeliness of individuals with unresolved attachment issues forming unhealthy parasocial relationships according to the attachment theory explanation?

  • Adults with unresolved attachment issues may be more likely to form unhealthy parasocial relationships due to unfulfilled needs
• Explain the supporting research evidence for the absorption-addiction model?

  • From Malty et al (2003)
  • Linked entertainment-social level with extravert personality traits, intense-personal category with neurotic traits and borderline pathological level with psychotic personality traits
  • Provides support for the model because it shows a correlation between level of celebrity worhsip and different disordered psychological functioning
• Explain how the attachment theories as an explanation for parasocial relationships lack validity?

  • McCuctheon et al (2006)
  • Found in his study of 299 participants of different attachement style, that those with an insecure attachment were not likely to develop parasocial relationships when asked about their attitudes towards celebrities
  • This suggests attachment theories may not be a valid explanation of that behaviour
• Explain a limitation of the absorption-addiction model?


  • It lacks explanatory power
  • The model describes characteristics or people at different levels of intensity but does not explain why the different forms develop
  • This does not help us prevent the more dangerous and disturbing forms of parasocial relationships
  • Therefore it's limited in its application for supporting people whose celebrity worship has become problematic