Parasocial Relationships

• Parasocial relationships are relationships between an individual and a celebrity or fictional character
• PSRs usually develop with television celebrities but can occur with favourite pop stars, athletes or bloggers
• PSRs are entirely one sided since the celebrity doesn’t know that the fan exists
• individuals feel connected to their favourite celebrity by seeing them in the media like in tv or online
• In the media, the celebrity may reveal personal feelings and information about themselves leading to a sense of intimacy
• the occurrence of PSRs tends to peak between 11 and 17 years. This is the age where a teen is developing their sense of identity and a celebrity role model can help them do this in a positive way
• Males are usually more interested in sports stars
• Females are more interested in the entertainment world
• Level of education is a factor in the development of PSRs, lower levels of education lead to a greater level of attraction to media personalities
• The most commonly used method of identifying PSRs is the Celebrity Attitude Scale by McCutcheon et al (2002)
• The first level of PSRs is the entertainment level which is the least intense level of PSRs. The person is attracted to the celebrity because of the entertainment they provide. The celebrity acts as fuel for social interactions
• The second level of PSRs is the intense personal level which is an intermediate level which reflects greater personal involvement with the PSR. A fan will show intense and compulsive feelings towards their favourite celebrity
• The third level of PSRs is the borderline pathological level which is the strongest level a PSR can reach. individuals over identify with the celebrity leading to uncontrollable fantasies and extreme behaviour. these fantasies are divorced from reality and prevent the individual from leading a normal life
• The absorption addiction model was proposed by McCutcheon (2002) where most individuals know their admiration for a media personality is because of their entertainment and their admiration will progress no further than that. However, some people may seek a more intense PSR to find fulfilment that they can’t achieve in their everyday relationships
• The absorption addiction model links to the different levels of PSRs, someone who initially had an entertainment-social orientation to a celebrity may be triggered into more intense involvement by a stressful life event
• The absorption in the AAM is when an individual seeks fulfilment from a PSR motivates someone to focus their attention on a certain celebrity, to become pre-occupied with their existence and identity with them
• The absorption in the AAM leads to addiction which is when individuals need to sustain their commitment to the relationship by feeling a stronger and closer involvement with the celebrity. This leads to the person to engage in extreme behaviours and delusional thinking in order to sustain satisfaction within their PSR
• Initially, interest in celebrities and PSRs is developed by absorption, this interest is maintained by means of addiction
• Maltby et al (2003) suggested that the absorption addiction model links to mental health. They used the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to assess the relationship between the level of PSRs and personality. The entertainment social level was associated with the extraversion personality trait. The intense personal level was associated with the neuroticism personality trait
• The absorption addiction model has been criticised for being a better description of PSRs than an explanation. The model is capable of describing the characteristics of people who are most absorbed by and addicted to celebrity, but doesn’t explain how such characteristics develop
• alternative explanations for PSRs such as attachment theory, may be more useful in explaining the development of PSRs
• Psychologists have suggested that there’s a tendency to form PSRs because of attachment difficulties in early childhood
• Bowlby’s attachment theory suggested that attachment difficulties may lead to emotional troubles later in life
• Ainsworth’s attachment theory identified two attachment types that are associated with unhealthy emotional development: insecure resistant and insecure avoidant
• Cole and Leets (1999) found that a persons willingness to form a parasocial bond with a celebrity is related to their attachment type in the strange situation
• In adulthood, those with secure attachments are able to develop loving, two way relationships in real life so they have little need for PSRs
• In adulthood, these people are seen as most likely to form PSRs because they have a need for close emotional relationships with a reduced risk of rejection
• A PSR means an individual can have a close bond to a media personality, but as that person isn’t aware of the relationship, there’s no risk of rejection
• Adults with the insecure avoidant attachment type have difficulties trusting others and therefore indulge in behaviours designed not to create intimacy. Therefore they’re less likely to form emotional ties in real or parasocial relationships
• Kienlen et al (1997) found that 63% of celebrity stalkers experienced a loss of primary caregivers during childhood due to parental separation or some form of abuse during childhood by the primary caregiver. This supports the idea that disturbed attachment patterns are related to extreme forms of PSRs
• McCutcheon et al (2006) measured attachment types and celebrity related attitudes in 229. They found that participants with insecure attachments were no more likely to form PSRs that partipants with secure attachments. This finding fails To support the predictions of attachment theory, raising questions about the val
• Most research into PSRs use self report data like questionnaires which are subject to a number of effects that can bias the findings. People may answer questions in a way that they think makes them appear ‘better’ or may lie about their involvement in a PSR