PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Parasocial relationships are one sided, unreciprocated relationships whereby an individual is attracted to another person (celebrity) who is unaware of their existence
• Attachment theory explains that an individuals willingness to form a PSR is related to attachment difficulties in childhood
• Insecure resistant during infancy are most likely to develop PSR as they need to have unfulfilled needs met in a relationships without the threat of rejection/break ups like in real life.
• Insecure avoidant types were least likely to develop PSR as they find it difficult to develop intimate relationships so avoid real/imagined intimacy
• Attachment behaviours observed in infants are evident in PSRs too. E.G - Proximity seeking may occur whereby individuals try to reduce the distance between themselves and celebrities/attachment figures. Separation anxiety can also be evident when individuals have a severe emotional reaction to events involving the celebrity.
• AO3 - ATTACHMENT THEORY STRENGTH

  LOSS OF A PSR DOES APPEAR TO BE LINKED TO ATTACHMENT TYPE:

  • COHEN found when participants were asked how they would react if their favourite TV characters were taken off air, those insecure resistant anticipated the most negative responses
  • supports predictions of attachment theory
• AO3 - ATTACHMENT THEORY WEAKNESS

  STUDIES HAVE CONTRADICTED ATTACHMENT THEORY:

  • MCCUTCHEON found participants with insecure attachments were no more likely to for PSRS with celebrities than those with secure attachments
  • attachment theory predictions aren't consistently supported
• McCutcheon's absorption addiction model argues that when people have perceived deficiencies in their own lives, such as lack of fulfilment, thy can become pre-occupied with a celebrity to achieve a sense of fulfilment (absorption). For the individual to sustain their commitment to the relationship, this leads to more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking (addiction).

  • obsessive addictive disorder
• LEVELS OF PSR'S: ENTERTAINMENT-SOCIAL:


  this is the least intense relationship where fans are attracted to a favourite celebrity and will learn about them for the purpose of gossip/entertainment
• LEVELS OF PSR'S: INTENSE-PERSONAL:


  this is the intermediate level which reflects a greater sense of personal involvement with the celebrity. An individual may have frequent/obsessive thoughts and intense feelings about them
• AO3 - ABSORPTION ADDICTION MODEL STRENGTH


  MALTBY found that 14-16 year old females with poor body image also reported an intense personal PSR with a female celebrity whose body shape they admired.

  • supports the prediction that there is a correlation between level of celebrity worship and deficiencies in our own lives
• AO3 - ABSORPTION ADDICTION MODEL WEAKNESS

  CRITICS ARGUE IT IS BETTER AT DESCRIBING PSR'S BUT NOT EXPLAINING THEM:

  • the model describes characteristics of people who are absorbed/addicted to a celebrity but isn't able to explain how the characteristics develop
  • questions over if it is a full explanation of PSR's
• AO3 - PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIP EXPLANTATIONS WEAKNESS

  THEORIES ARE BASED ON FLAWED RESEARCH:

  • research has used self report techniques which may suffer from social desirability bias (present in a more positive way)
  • E.G - not being entirely honest about thoughts/feelings towards the celebrities
  • casts doubt over the validity of the research findings
• AO3 - ABSORPTION ADDICTION MODEL STRENGTH

  RESEARCH SUGGESTS MODEL IS UNIVERSAL:

  • SCHMID and KLIMMT studied fans feelings towards Harry Potter in Germany (individualist culture) and Mexico (collectivist culture) and found fans in both counties had similar patterns of PSRs with Harry Potter regardless of their cultural norms/values
  • model is universal and reflects across all cultures - good explanation