parasocial relationships Flashcards
what is the entertainment social stage?
Giles and Maltby suggest that most people engage in parasocial relationships at some point in their lives, but most stay at the first level, where celebrities are seen as a source of entertainment and as a topic for lighthearted gossip with friends. This is the least intense level of celebrity worship.
what is the intense personal stage:
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. This type of parasocial relationship is typical for teenagers who seem to be obsessed with every little detail of their favourite celebrity’s lifestyle.
what is the borderline pathological stage?
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 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.
what is the absorption addiction model ?
McCutcheon
suggests that people engage in celebrity worship to compensate for some deficiencies in their life, such as difficulty forming intimate relationships, poor psychological adjustment and lack of identity. allows them to acheive the fulfilment they lack
how does the attachment theory apply to parasocial relationship
Bowlby’s theory predicts that individuals who didn’t form a strong bond with a primary caregiver in early childhood will try to find an attachment substitute as adults, and engaging in parasocial relationships allows them to do so.
how does ainsworth strange situation apply to parasocial relationships?
individuals who formed insecure-resistant relationships with their caregiver in early childhood will be more likely to form parasocial relationships, as they are too afraid of the criticism and rejection that are a part of real life relationships.
evaluation: strength
useful applications
Maltby linked types of personality to levels of parasocial relationships.
he found that extraverts were more likely to be at the entertainment social level, neurotics at the intense personal level and psychotics at the borderline- pathological level.
how does maltby study of types of personalities support the absorption addiction model
this supports the absorption addiction model and suggests that research into parasocial can be used to improve professionals understanding of psychological disorders
evaluation: weakness
lack of support for attachment theory
- McCutcheon et al examined the correlation between attachment types and celebrity worship level using 229 ppt and found no link between insecure resistant attachment and more intense level of parasocial relationships.
how does McCutcheon examining correlation weaken the theory?
this contradicts the claim made by attachment theory explanations and suggests that there is no link between attachment type and parasocial relationships.
evaluation: weakness
research is correlational
this means that cause and effect cannot be clearly established, lowering the scientific explanatory power.
while a correlation was found between poor body image and intensive celebrity worship in teenage girls this doesn’t mean celebrity worship causes poor body image.
evaluation: weakness
reliant on self report methods
heavily relies on self report techniques like questionnaires and interveiws. these methods may not reflect the true picture due to social desirability bias (answering in a way that reflects them in a better light) and may not respond truthfully.
this lowers the validity of the explanations ( less applicable to real life)
