Lesson 11 - Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Question 1

What are Parasocial Relationships

Answer 1

Parasocial relationships refer to one-sided relationships with a celebrity, a prominent person in the community, or a fictional character, when a fan knows everything about the subject of their adoration and feels very close to them, but there is no chance of reciprocity.

Question 2

How were the three levels determined (Levels of Parasocial Relationships)

Answer 2

Giles and Maltby (2006) identified three levels of parasocial relationships, using the celebrity attitude scale in a large scale survey.

Question 3

What are the three levels

Answer 3

1. Entertainment-Social
2. Intense-Personal
3. Borderline pathological

Question 4

Entertainment-Social

Answer 4

Most people engage in parasocial relationships at some point in their lives, but most stay at this first level. Celebrities are seen as a source of entertainment and as a topic for light-hearted gossiping with friends. This is the least intense level of celebrity worship.

Question 5

Intense-Personal

Answer 5

This is a deeper level of parasocial relationships. At this level a person has a more intense relationship with a celebrity. For example, they may see them as a soulmate and they have an intense interest in the celebrity’s personal life, such as their dress sense, food they like and entertainment in which they take part.

Question 6

Borderline pathological

Answer 6

This is the most intense level of parasocial relationships. At this level, a person takes celebrity worship to an extreme, has obsessive fantasies about the celebrity, spends large sums of money to obtain memorabilia and may engage in illegal activities such as stalking. At this level, it is also usual for people to believe that if only they were given a chance to meet their favourite celebrity in person, their feelings would be reciprocated.

Question 7

Strengths of Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 7

Schiappa et al. (2007) found a significant positive correlation between the
amount of television participants watched, the degree to which they perceived a TV character as ‘real’ and the level of their parasocial relationship.

There is research support for the claim that attractiveness increases the likelihood of a parasocial relationship; the attractiveness of a celebrity influenced the development of the three levels of parasocial relationships from members of the public

Question 8

Weaknesses of Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 8

Educational levels of individuals needs to be taken into account. Highly educated individuals may perceive the majority of celebrities as less educated than themselves, therefore, are less likely to engage in parasocial relationships.

It was recommend that training should occur in schools to highlight the dangers of parasocial relationships as it often results in an individual having unrealistic goals to be more similar to celebrities. For example, one may develop an eating disorder in order to obtain the slim body of a media star.

Research into the levels of parasocial relationships was conducted via questionnaires. These can be affected by socially desirable and idealised answers, thus, lacking validity.