Para-social Relationships

Question 1

What is meant by para-social relationships?

Answer 1

• Generally where someone will believe they are in a r’ship with someone of a higher status (celebrity, but not always)
• Usually without the celebrities knowledge & aka ‘Hero worship’
• The person will come across their ‘partner’ through film/pop culture & misconstrues this with a physical interaction
• They feel they know the celebrity better than anyone else

Question 2

What are the 3 level of a para-social relationship?
(subscales)
What do the levels measure?

Answer 2

1. Entertainment social-subscale
2. Intense-personal subscale
3. Borderline-pathological subscale

• Tools for measuring the strength of the para-social r’ship, not why it has occurred

Question 3

Outline entertainment-social subscale?
(Giles & Maltby)

Answer 3

• Giles & Maltby suggest most people in para-social r’ships at some point in their lives
• Light-hearted & least intense level of worship

Question 4

Outline intense-personal subscale?

Answer 4

• person has a more intense r’ship with the celebrity
• they may see them as a soulmate & they have an intense interest in the celebrity’s personal life e.g. cars, dress sense, entertainment, career

Question 5

Outline borderline-pathological subscale?

Answer 5

• Most intense level
• Has obsessive fantasies about the celebrity
• Spends large sums of money to obtain memorabilia & may engage in stalking
• Usually for people to believe that if only they were given a chance to meet their celebrity the feelings would be mutual

Question 6

What is the absorption-addiction model of para-social relationships by McCutcheon?

Answer 6

• tendency to form a para-social r’ship due to deficiencies in people
• theory suggests a para-social r’ship allows them an escape from their own lives
• a trigger can link to more intense feelings in the levels

Question 7

The absorption-addiction model has two levels what are they?

Answer 7

1. Absorption: McCutcheon explains looking for satisfaction in celebrity worship makes a person focus intensely on their para-social r’ship & achieving fulfilment motivates them to become more attached
2. Addiction: This sense of fulfilment becomes addictive for the person, leading them to engage in more risky behaviour e.g. stalking in order to get closer to the celebrity

Question 7

AO3 Para-social
Research support Malby 2005?
(14-16 year old girls, anorexia)

Answer 7

P - Research support Malby
E - Malby looked at females 14-16 who had a para-social relationship with a female they admired
E - Found that these females had a poor body image & argued this could be a precursor to the development of anorexia
L - Understanding this can lead to education to control manage this in a constructive way

Question 8

AO3 para social
Research support Meloy?

Answer 8

P - Meloy research support for absorption-addiction model of para social r’ships
E - Found stalkers tend to have a history of failed sexual r’ships & tended not to be in a r’ship at the time of stalking
E - Stalking tends to be in a response to social & sexual incompetence
L - Provides support for the idea that the individual is trying to ‘absorb’ some of the celebrities status

Question 9

AO3 para-social
Socially sensitive?

Answer 9

P para social is socially sensitive as it presumes most people who experience an attachment to a celebrity are in a para social r’ship
E - For example people may have an affinity to a celebrity but it doesn’t mean they are included in one of the levels e.g. entertainment sub-social scale
E - This could lead to people feeling like they have an issue & need to seek help despite the fact they’ll likely never experience the absorption-addiction model
L - This shows that para-social r’ships are flawed

Question 10

What attachment type is most likely to form a para-social relationship?

Answer 10

• Insecure-resistant
• clingy, hate, rejection, hate when r’ship end
• Para-social r’ships make no demands & don’t involve rejection

Question 11

What attachment type is least likely to form a para-social relationship?

Answer 11

• Securely attached
• Able to form meaningful r’ships & have high self-esteem so will not feel the need to form a para-social r’ship

Question 12

Proximity seeking & PSR?

Answer 12

• Individuals attempt to reduce distance between them & their PSR
  e.g. attempt contact with them/stalking

Question 13

Secure base & PSR?

Answer 13

• Presence of attachment figure provides a secure base
• With PSR there is no chance of rejection the individual is able to create a secure base from which they can explore other r’ships in a safe way

Question 14

Protest at disruption & PSR?

Answer 14

• Key indicator of an attachment in PSR is prolonged distress due to the loss or separation of the figure
• e.g. When Jeremy Clarkson was axed from Top Gear….’Bring back Clarkson’

Question 15

AO3 Attachment & PSR
Research support Kienlen?
(63% & 50%)

Answer 15

P - Research support Kienlen
E - 63% of stalkers experienced an early loss of a primary caregiver, usually due to parental separation whilst more than 50% reported abuse of all forms as a child
E/L - Shows attachment clearly influences the likelihood of people developing PSR in late adolescence & adulthood

Question 16

AO3 Attachment & PSR?
Research against McCutcheon 2006?
(situation with yourself)
(229 pt’s)

Answer 16

P - Research against McCutcheon 2006
E - Measured attachment styles & celebrity related attitudes in 229 pt’s
E - Researchers found the pt’s with insecure attachments were no more likely to form PSR with celebrities than pat’s with secure attachments
L - Shows attachment & PSR is not credible

Question 17

AO3 Attachment & PSR?
Attachment theory fails to explain these r’ships can be functional?

Answer 17

P - Attachment theory fails to explain these r’ships can be functional
E - In some cases where people have lost an attachment figure people can seek comfort in a PSR
E - If done in a harmless way this can provide much needed relief
L - Suggests attachment theory of PSR may encounter issues when applied to some ‘real life’ scenarios