Parasocial relationships

• What are parasocial relationships?

  • People form one-sided relationships with celebrities who are unaware of the existence of the person who created the relationship
  • These are appealing due to lack of rejection, judgement, few demands, etc. and more likely if the celebrity is attractive, the viewer is female with low self-esteem and a stark lack of social skills
• What are the 3 levels of parasocial relationships?

  • McCutcheon et al. (2002) developed the Celebrity Attitude Scale which they used in a large-scale survey by Maltby et al. in 2006 who identified 3 levels of para-social relationships, each describing the attitudes and behaviours linked to the more extreme forms of celebrity worship
  • Entertainment-social, intense-personal, borderline-pathological
• What is the 1st level of parasocial relationships?

  • Entertainment-social: the least intense level of celebrity worship, where celebrities are viewed as sources of entertainment and fuel for social interaction
  • Giles (2002) found that parasocial relationships were a fruitful source of gossip in offices
• What is the 2nd level of parasocial relationships?

  • Intense-personal: an intermediate level which reflects a greater personal involvement in the relationship, characterised by frequent and intense thoughts and feelings about them that can be shared with people who feel a similar way
• What is the 3rd level of parasocial relationships?

  • Borderline-pathological: the strongest level of celebrity worship, featuring uncontrollable fantasies and extreme behaviours like spending large sums of money on celebrity-related objects, or willingness to perform illegal acts at the celebrity's demand
• What is the absorption addiction model?

  • McCutcheon linked these levels to the deficiencies people have in their own lives, such as low self-esteem and lacking fulfilment in everyday relationships
  • Someone who initially has an entertainment-social orientation to a certain celebrity may be triggered into more intense involvement by some personal crisis or stressful life event
  • Absorption - seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship motivates individuals to focus attention solely on the celebrity, becoming preoccupied w/ them and experiencing identification
  • Addiction - like physiological addictions to drug, people need to increase their 'dose' to gain satisfaction, leading to more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking
  • Predicts an association between poorer mental health and the strength of para-social relationships
• What is the attachment theory of parasocial relationships?


  • Insecure-resistant types are the most likely to form PSRs, seek to have their unfulfilled needs met, but in a relationship that is not accompanied by threat of rejection, break up, or the disappointment of real-life relationships
  • Insecure-avoidant are the least likely to form PSRs, prefer to avoid the pain and rejection of relationships altogether
  • Secure types are not likely at all as they often have satisfactory real-life relationships and don't need to seek anything additional
• What is one strength of the parasocial relationships theory?


  • Research support for levels: McCutcheon (2016) used the CAS to measure levels of parasocial relationships and assessed problems in their intimate relationships
  • Those who scored as borderline pathological or intense-personal tended to experience high levels of anxiety in their close relationships, when those at entertainment social did not
  • Suggests these categories are predictive of actual behaviour
• What is another strength of the parasocial relationships theory?


  • Research support for absorption addiction model: Maltby et al (2005) investigated the link between celebrity worship and body image in male and females aged 14-16
  • Females who reported an intense-personal parasocial relationship with a female celebrity whose body shape they admired tended to have poor body image themselves -> may be a precursor to development of eating disorders like anorexia
  • Supports models predictions of a link between poor psychological functioning and the extremer level of PSR
• What is another strength of the parasocial relationships theory?


  • Universal tendency: Dinkha (2019) compared the collectivist culture of Kuwait to the individualist culture of the US - found that people in both cultures, those with an insecure attachment were more likely to form intense PSRs with TV personalities and characters
  • Shows the 'driver' for forming a PSR is independent of cultural differences, supporting its' universality as an explanation
• What is one weakness of the parasocial relationships theory?

  • Contradictory evidence: McCutcheon et al (2006) measured attachment types and celebrity-related attitudes in 299 American participants
  • Found that participants with insecure attachments were no more likely to form PSRs with celebrities than those with secure attachments
  • Shows that PSRs are not necessarily a way of compensating for attachment issues