Parasocial Relationships Flashcards
Parasocial Relationships
Relationships with celebrities are usually entirely one-sided.
The target individual is unaware of the existence of the person who created the relationship.
These relationships may be appealing because they make few demands, and the individual does not run the risk of criticism or rejection as might be the case in a real relationship.
Parasocial Relationships (2):
PSR’s are more likely if…
The object of affection is perceived as attractive
They are perceived as similar to us
We perceive them as real
The viewer is female
The viewer is lonely and shy
Levels of Parasocial Relationships
Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS)
A tool used to measure PSR;
‘Entertainment-Social’: Measures social aspect associated with celebrity worship - ‘My friends and I
like to discuss what X has done.’
‘Intense-Personal’: Measures the intensity of a person’s feelings towards the celebrity along
with obsessional tendencies - ‘I consider X to be my soul mate.’
‘Borderline-Pathological’: Measures the potentially harmful aspects of feelings towards the celebrity -
‘If X asked me to do something illegal as a favour I would probably do it.’
McCutcheon (2003)
600 ppts
20% fell into the first category of ‘Entertainment-Social’
10% the second ‘Intense-Personal’
1% the third ‘Borderline-Pathological’
Levels of Parasocial Relationships (Giles
& Maltby, 2006)
Entertainment-Social - Celebrity is a source
of gossip/interaction
Intense-Personal - Intensive, Compulsive feelings towards celebrity
Borderline-Pathological - Uncontrollable
behaviours/fantasies
Absorption Addiction Model
McCutcheon et al (2002) proposed the Absorption Addiction Model to explain
how parasocial relationships become abnormal.
ABSORPTION: they have deficits in their own sense of personal identity
– absorption is an attempt to establish personal identity.
Absorption has addictive qualities so individuals go to further and further
lengths to maintain a sense of fulfilment via the parasocial relationship.
(Enduring Love)
This model therefore predicts that there will be an association between poorer mental health and the strength of parasocial relationships.
To test this, McCutcheon devised the ‘Celebrity Attitude Scale’ (CAS)
Absorption Addiction Model (2)
Explains parasocial relationships in terms of
life deficiencies and as a way of escaping
mundane lives.
You become absorbed in a celebrity’s
existence and then need to increase your
‘dose’ of involvement to gain satisfaction
Absorption
Seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship motivates an individual to focus their attention as far as possible on the celebrity, to become preoccupied with the celebrity and identify them.
Addiction
Just as with a physiological addiction to psychoactive substance, the individual needs to increase their ‘dose’ in order to gain satisfaction. This may lead to more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking. For example, stalking a celebrity because they believe that the celebrity really wants to reciprocate their feelings, but someone - the celebrity’s manager perhaps - is stopping the celebrity from getting involved.
Attachment styles and Parasocial
relationships
Theory proposes insecure attachment leads to
an increased interest in celebrities.
PSRs make no demands, and do not involve
criticism or the risk of rejection.
Attachment styles and Parasocial
relationships (2)
It is thought that those who can be needy and clingy in relationships may be more
likely to develop PSRs.
This type of attachment style is known as
insecure-resistant
Attachment styles and parasocial
relationships (3)
Parasocial relationships may function similarly to ‘real life’ relationships in terms of attachment behaviours, as relationships with TV personalities exhibit to some degree the three fundamental properties of adult attachment as identified by Weiss (1991): Proximity seeking, Secure base, Protest at disruption.
Proximity seeking
A key component of attachment theory is proximity seeking as individuals attempt to reduce the distance between themselves and their attachment figure. Fans exhibit many proximity-seeking behaviours as part of their PSR. For example, research has shown that people like to stay informed about their favourite celebrities - they collect trivia about them, will rearrange schedules to see them on TV and will even attempt to contact them through fan letters or in person (Leets et al, 1995)
