Media - attraction of celebrity

Question 1

Eyal and Cohen - parasocial relationships

Answer 1

• 279 students completed surveys assessing strength of parasocial relationship with favourite friends character and strength of feeling about parasocial break up
• amount of break up distress was best predicted by intensity of parasocial relationship
• supports parasocial relationship explanation as more intense a real relationship is the more distress a break up would cause
• duration of parasocial relationship did not predict the extent of break up distress

Question 2

Cole and Leets - attachment theory

Answer 2

• students completed 3 scales; one to measure parasocial interaction, one to assess attachment style, and one where they had to pick a single paragraph descriptor that best described them
• type C participants were more likely to form parasocial relationship, type A least likely and type B in the middle
• all students from American university

Question 3

Cohen - attachment theory

Answer 3

• Israeli participants
• completed questionnaires indicating how they would feel if their favourite TV characters got taken off air
• most negative responses were from participants with resistant attachment (type C)

Question 4

De Backer - gossip theory (evolutionary explanation)

Answer 4

• survey of 838 participants
• in depth interviews
• older people more interested in celebrity gossip as helped them form social networks with other people
• younger people more interested in celebrities much older and more internationally known celebrities as more prestigious

Question 5

Duck - ornamental mind theory (evolutionary explanation)

Answer 5

• found that boredom is often cited as reason for ending romantic relationships

Question 6

Nettle and Clegg - ornamental mind theory

Answer 6

• serious artists and poets have significantly more sexual partners