parasocial relationships Flashcards
what is a parasocial relationship?
similar to normal relationships, but missing a key element.
they are a one-sided, unreciprocated relationship, usually with a celebrity, on which a person expends a lot of time, commitment and emotional energy.
outline the levels of parasocial relationships.
Giles and Maltby (2006) used the celebrity attitude scale (developed by McCutcheon, 2002) to identify three levels of parasocial relationship - entertainment social, intense personal, borderline pathological.
each level describes the attitudes and behaviours linked to ever more extreme forms of celebrity worship.
name the three levels of parasocial relationships.
- entertainment social.
- intense personal.
- borderline pathological.
describe the level of PR - entertainment social.
least intense level of celebrity worship. celebs are viewed as sources of entertainment and fuel for social interaction.
for example - gossiping about a celebrity you have more than a passing interest in with friends at school.
describe the level of PR - intense personal.
intermediate level which reflects a greater personal involvement in a parasocial relationship with a celebrity - having intense thoughts and feelings about them that they like to share with others who feel the same way.
for example, a fan of Kim Kardashian might have frequent obsessive thoughts about her and even consider her to be their ‘soul mate’.
describe the level of PR - borderline pathological.
strongest level of celebrity worship, featuring uncontrollable fantasies and extreme behaviours.
these might include spending or planning to spend a large sum of money on a celeb-related object, or being willing to perform an illegal act on the celebrity’s say so.
for example - a fan saying that they are willing to kill someone for their favourite celebrity.
name the two explanations of parasocial relationships.
absorption-addiction model.
attachment theory explanation.
outline the absorption-addiction model.
McCutcheon (2002) explains the tendency to form PSRs in terms of deficiencies people have in their own lives.
She proposes PSRs are an escape from deficiencies like:
-Poor sense of identity -Poor psychological adjustment (e.g. stressed) -Lack of fulfilment in life
PSRs allow an ‘escape from reality’ to seek fulfilment that they cant receive in their actual relationships.
the model has two components - absorption and addiction.
outline the absorption component of the absorption-addiction model.
seeking fulfilment in a celebs life motivates an individual to focus their attention as much as possible on the celeb, to become preoccupied in their existence and identity with them.
outline the addiction component of the absorption-addiction model.
individual needs to sustain their commitment to the relationship by feeling a stronger involvement with the celeb. may lead to more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking.
e.g. stalking a celeb because you believe that they really want to reciprocate your feelings but someone - like their manager - is stopping them.
outline the attachment theory explanation.
psychologists have suggested that there’s a tendency to form PSRs in adulthood due to attachment difficulties in childhood.
Bowlby’s attachment theory suggested early difficulties may lead to emotional troubles in life. Ainsworth identified two attachment types associated with unhealthy emotional development - insecure resistant and insecure avoidant.
IR types are more likely to form PSRs because they need to have unfulfilled needs met in a relationship where there is no threat of rejection or break-up that real life one’s have. IA however prefer to avoid pain of rejection in any kind of relationship.
discuss research support as a strength of the absorption addiction model of PSRs.
a strength of PSRs is evidence from research support for the absorption-addiction model.
Maltby (2005) looked in particularly at females aged 14-16 who had a parasocial relationship with a female whose body shaped they admired.
They found a correlation between poor body image and PSRs - they speculated this could be a precursor to the development of anorexia.
ADDITIONALLY -
Maltby et al (2003) used the Eysenck personality questionnaire to assess the relationships between parasocial relationship level and personality. They made the following links:
Entertainment Social = Extraversion (sociable, lively) Intense Personal = Neuroticism (tense, emotional, moody) (Neuroticism is also linked to depression and anxiety) Borderline Pathological = Psychoticism (anti social, egocentric).
both studies support the model because they confirm the prediction of a correlation between the level of celebrity worship and poor psychological functioning.
discuss methodological issues as a limitation of research into PSRs.
one limitation of research into PSRs is methodological issues.
most research studies on PSRs use self report measures to collect data, such as questionnaires.
these are subject to social desirability bias, as ptps may respond to personal items in a way which will increase their social status - limiting the validity of the findings and the support they can give the theory.
ADDITIONALLY -
most studies are correlational - such as the correlation found between body image and celebrity worship.
the conclusion that an intense personal relationship causes young women to have poor body imagine is unwarranted - could be that they already have one and this causes them to be drawn to an intense personal worship of an admired celeb.
as the addiction-absorption model is based on such research, this calls in to question it’s validity as an explanation of PSRs.
discuss research support as a strength of the attachment theory of PSRs.
a strength of the attachment theory explanation of PSRs is evidence from research support.
McCutcheon et al. (2006) measured attraction to celebrities, finding that adults with insecure attachment types had positive attitudes towards obsessive behaviours and stalking - also, that pathological attachment types have a tendency to stalk.
this implies that stalking behaviour is related to childhood attachment patterns, thus suggesting there is some validity to the AT of PSRs.
HOWEVER -
McCutcheon (2006) found no relationship between childhood attachment patterns and mild forms of celebrity worship.
this suggests that it is only more intense forms of parasocial relationships that are related to attachment types - thus limiting the generalisability of the theory to all PSRs, limiting its value as an explanation.
