Levels of PS and the absorption addiction model

• Parasocial relationship - One-sided, unreciprocated relationships where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time while the other person is completely unaware of their existence eg. a celebrity
• Level one - Entertainment Social

  > Least intense

  > Celebrities are viewed as sources of entertainment and individuals may speak about them often with friends for social interaction

  > People may talk about soap operas or reality TV stars. An individual in this level keeps up on the activities of celebrities for the purpose of entertainment.
• Level two - Intense personal

  > Intermediate level

  > An individual has strong feelings for a celebrity and may appear obsessed with them

  > Individuals have intense feelings for the celebrity, just as they would for a real-life relationship

  > Consider celebrities their 'soul-mate'
• Level three - Borderline Patholoical

  > Strongest level

  > An individual has uncontrollable fantasies and displays extreme behaviours towards that celebrity. Individuals at this level show addictive behaviours towards a celebrity

  > They may spend a lot of time and money in attempting to meet and befriend that celebrity: this may include spending a large sum of money on a celebrity-related object, sending them personal gifts or being willing to perform some illegal action on the celebrity’s says-so
• Absorption addiction model

  > Links the level of parasocial relationships with poor psychological health and deficiencies in their own life eg. a low self esteem

  > A personal crisis or stressful life event can trigger someone to move from entertainment social to more intense involvement with worshipping celebrities because it allows them to escape from reality and gives individuals a sense of fulfilment
• Absorption addiction model 2

  1. Absorption: An individual focuses their attention on the celebrity, rather than having to think about their own life and identify with the celebrity. This gives the individual a sense of identity
  2. Addiction: The obsession becomes similar to a physiological addiction to a substance. The individual needs to increase their ‘dose’ in order to gain satisfaction. This can lead to more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking, as the individual moves through the levels of parasocial relationships.
• Levels of PS and absorption addiction model AO3

  :) RTS Maltby

  > Studied adolescents aged 14-16 with poor body image to see if this predisposed the teenagers to forming parasocial relationships.

  > He found that female adolescents with poor body image formed intense-personal parasocial relationships with a female celebrity whose body shape they admired

  > Supporting the existence of levels of parasocial relationships and that a poor mental health can predict levels
• Levels of PS and absorption addiction model AO3

  :( Based on correlational research

  > A cause and effect cannot be established between poorer psychological health and the level/intensity of parasocial relationships

  > For example, it could be that the borderline-pathological parasocial involvement has caused the poor psychological health, rather than the other way around.

  > Lowering the internal validity of the absorption addiction model in explaining the levels of parasocial relationships