parasocial relationships

Question 1

what are parasocial relationships?

Answer 1

-one sided unreciprocated RS w a celeb which a fan expends alot of emotinal energy , commitment and time

Question 2

what did Mcuthen et al say about the levels of parasocial RS

Answer 2

-he developed a celeb atiitude scale to assess the strength of RS
-it was used in a large scale survey by Maltby et al who identfied 3 levels of parasocial RS

Question 3

what were the 3 levels identified by Maltby?

Answer 3

-entertainment social , intense personal , boderline patholgical

Question 4

what is the entertainment social stage?

Answer 4

-least intense level of celebrity worship
-viewed as source of entertainment
-topic of gossip

Question 5

what is the intense personal level?

Answer 5

-immediate lvel w greater personal involvement
-fan may have obssesive thoughts
- intense feeling for celeb

Question 6

boderline patholgical level?

Answer 6

-strongest level of celeb workship
-uncontrollable fantasies
-extreme behvaiours e.g spending a signficant amount of money on celebrity related objects

Question 7

what did McCulhean say about the absoption addiciton model?

Answer 7

-explains the tendency to form parasocial RS deficiencies people have in their own lives e.g weak sense of self identity or unfufilling everyday RS

Question 8

what did the AA model also say about poorly adjusted psycholgical people

Answer 8

-allows them to escape reality and may provide a way of finding fufilment thats not achieved in their actual RS
-enetertainment social orietntation to a certain celeb may be triggered into more intense involvement by some personal crisis or stressful event.

Question 9

what are the 2 components in the AA model?

Answer 9

absorption and addiciton

Question 10

what is absorption

Answer 10

-attention focused on celeb
-pre occupied and identify w them

Question 11

what is addiciton

Answer 11

-their need to sustain their commitment to the RS and lead to extreme behaviour and delusional thinking

Question 12

what is the attachment theory?

Answer 12

-parasocial RS may form bc of attachment difficulties in early childhood

Question 13

what was ainsworth unhealthy emotional development components

Answer 13

-insecure, insecure resistant types, insecure avoidant

Question 14

what is insecure?

Answer 14

-resistant and insecure avoidant

Question 15

what is insecure resistant types

Answer 15

-more likely to form parasocial RS as adults
-need unfuffiled needs met
to avoid rejection, break up or disappointment that can occur in IRL RS.

Question 16

whats insecure avoidant

Answer 16

-look to avoid the pain and rejection of both social and parasocial RS

Question 17

strengths of this theory

Answer 17

(reseatch support for levels)
-Mcutheon et al carried used the CAS to measure level of parasocial RS
-predciitons were accuarate
-people who were intense persoanl or boderline pathological actually had experince high anixety in actual RS
-people with entertianment social did not(but may have had other RS issues)

(research support for absorption addiciton model)
-relationship between poor psycholgical functioning and liklihood of developing addciiton to celeb worship supported
-maltby found teens 14-16 yrs w poor body image were likely to develop addicitons to celebs

(universal tendency)
-applied to all cultures regardless of wether its individualistic or collectivist
-those w insecure attachment type still likely to form paarsocial RS
-supported by DInkha et al who looked at collectivist KUWAIT and indivualist US.

Question 18

weakness of theory

Answer 18

(counterpoint universal tendency)
-McCuheon measured attachment types and celebrity related attitudes
-found attachment type didnt effect the liklihood of forming parasocial RS
-PS w insecure attachment no more likely to form parasocial RS than those w secure attachment
-parasocial RS dont always compensate attachment issues

(methological issues w the CAS and studies that use this)
-shows correlations e.g poor attachment likely to form parasocial RS
-but does show a cause
-may be other varibales not accounted for e.g finicial issues