AO1 - Absorption Addiction Model of Parasocial Relationships

• Parasocial relationships are one-sided, unreciprocated relationships where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time while the other person is completely unaware of their existence, e.g. a celebrity
• McCutcheon et al developed the Celebrity Attitude Scale, which is a questionnaire that identifies three levels of parasocial relationships. Each level describes the attitudes and behaviours at each level, as the levels increase, so does the intensity of the parasocial relationship and celebrity worship
• Level 1 - Entertainment Social (Least intense)

  • Celebrities are viewed as a source of entertainment and individuals may speak about them often with friends for social interaction
  • For example, 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 2 - Intense Personal (Intermediate level)

  • An individual has strong feelings for a celebrity (greater personal involvement) and may appear obsessed with them
  • Individuals have intense feelings for the celebrity, just as they would for a real-life relationship
  • For example, a fan of Harry Styles may have frequent obsessive thoughts and intense feelings about him, perhaps even considering him as their 'soul-mate'
• Level 3 - Borderline Pathological (Strongest level of celebrity worship)

  • An individual has uncontrollable fantasies and displays extreme behaviour 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 the celebrity - this may include spending a large sum of money on a related object, sending them gifts, or being willing to perform some illegal action on the celebrity's behalf
• The absorption addiction model links the level of parasocial relationships with poor psychological health and deficiencies in their own life, e.g. low self esteem or family trauma

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

  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 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
• McCutcheon's theory recognises a correlation between poor psychological health and the level of parasocial relationship

  • Increased poor psychological health = higher intensity parasocial level