parasocial relationships Flashcards
what are parasocial relationships
relationships resembling normal relationships
- but they are one sided and unreciprocated
- one person expends considerable emotional energy and time although the other person is often unaware of the relationship
what are the three levels of PSR
- social level
- intense personal level
- borderline pathological level
ouline the social level
- fans are attracted to a favourite celebrity and will learn about the celebrity for the purpose of entertainment
outline the intense personal level
- intense compulsive feelings towards a celebrity
- deeper involvement
outline the borderline pathological level
- characterised by overidentification with the celebrity and uncontrollable behaviours and fantasies
- could include spending a lot of money on a celebrity related object
what are the 2 explanations of parasocial relationships
- absorption addiction model
- attachment theory
what are the reasons a PSR may form
- lack of real relationships in their own life
- avoids the risk of rejection and criticism
- weak sense of self identity
- shyness and loneliness create a void which is filled by the PSR
- lack of fulfilment in their own life allows for an escape from reality
- helps young people with identity formation
outline the absorption in the absorption addiction model
- absorption: become psychologically absorbed with a celebrity to establish a sense of fulfilment
- fans believe they have a special relationship with the celebrity motivating them to learn more about them
- absorption takes on an an addictive component leading to more extreme behaviours to sustain the PSR
outline addiction in absorption addiction model
- addiction: more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking
- eg stalking the celebrity as they believe they want to reciprocate their feelings
- at the borderline pathological level the PSR becomes addictive due to the progressively stronger involvement that is now required to remain connected with the celebrity
- in extreme cases this may involve extreme, abnormal or even criminal behaviour
- can result in physical violence
an example of an extreme parasocial relationship
bjork
- ricardo lopez, 1996
- obsessed with bjork
- gathered information and wrote numerous letters
- described a euphoric feeling listening to her music
- recorded himself isolated in his home for 9 months
- tried to letter bomb bjork then killed himself and uploaded the video
a strength of the levels model is that its predictions are supported by research
- mccucheon used the CAS to measure levels of PSR
- also assessed personal problems in their intimate relationships
- participants who scored high as intense personal or borderline pathological tended to experience a high degree of anxiety in their intimate relationships
- people at the entertainment social level did not
- this is a limitation as this suggests that celebrity worshippers can usually be classified into three categories
- therefore this model helps us to predict actual PSR behaviour
a strength of the AAM is that there is supporting evidence
- maltby assessed males and females aged 14-16
- the researcher in particular researched females who reported an intense personal PSR with a female celebrity whose body shape they admired
- they found that these female adolescents tended to have poor body image
- they speculated that this may contribute to the development of an eating disorder
- this is a strength as it supports the models prediction of an association between poor psychological functioning and the level of PSR
- therefore giving the AAM validity
counterargument
- AAM limitation - correlation
- a limitation of the AAM is that its supporting research is correlational data
- maltbys assessment produces data which is a correlational analysis
- strong correlations between celebrity worship and body image are often found
- however the view that female adolescents with poor body image are more likely to have an intense personal PSR with a female celebrity could be wrong
- perhaps the intense personal PSR caused the poor body image
- its difficult to know the direction of causality
- as we cant establish cause and effect this limits the explanatory power of the AAM on the formation of PSRS
a limitation of the AAM is that it provides a description rather than an explanation of the processes involved in PSRS
- for instance the model can describe the characteristics of people who are most absorbed by and addicted to a celebrity
- however unlike attachment theory it doesnt explain how such characteristics develop
- this is a limitation as this weakens the usefulness for the theory and doesnt give insight into how to reduce the behaviours at the pathological level
- therefore significantly limiting its usefulness in understanding who is most likely to develop a PSR
what are the three factors of attachment theory
- proximity seeking
- secure base
- protest at disruption
how does attachment theory apply PSR
PSRS may function similarly to real life relationships in terms of attachment behaviours
- as relationships with celebrities exhibit to some degree the three fundamental properties of adult attachment
how does proximity seeking apply
- individuals attempt to reduce the distance between themselves and their attachment figure
- by staying informed, attempting to contact them through fan letters etc
how does secure base apply
- presence of attachment figure provided a sense of security for the individual, a safe base that allows them to explore the world and explore other relationships in a safe way
- with PSR there is little to no chance of rejection from the attachment figure
how does protest at disruption apply
- a clear marker of an attachment is the presence of distress following separation or loss of the attachment figure
what did bowlby suggest about attachment types and PSR formation
- failure to attach early in life led to later attachment problems such as PSR formation to meet their need for attachment/affection
which attachment type is most likely to form a PSR and why
- insecure resistant
- individuals who hold a more negative view of themselves
- they have a need for close emotional relationships but those in which there is a reduced risk of rejection
- so individuals turn to tv characters to meet their needs
- pain and disappointment from real life is avoided
which attachment type is second likely to form a PSR and why
insecure avoidant
- they find it difficult to develop intimate relationships and so are less likely to seek out real or PSR
which attachment type is least likely to form a PSR
secure attachment
- individuals report a happy childhood would have a positive relationship with friends
- less interested in celebrities as they dont have an unfulfilled need for attachment
a strength of attachment theory is that there is supporting evidence
- cohen carried out a study to show whether viewers would show the same negative response to the loss of a PSR as they would to a real relationship
- in an israeli study 381 adults answered questions about how they would react if their favourite characters were taken off air and questions about their attachment style
- insecure resistant ptps produced the most negative responses to the loss of the PSR
- anticipated a range in intensity of negative emotions overall such as sadness, anger and loneliness
- reactions were also related to the intensity of the PSR with their favourite character
- this is a strength as it supports the theory that attachment style influences the likelihood of forming PSRs
- therefore adding validity to the theory
a limitation of supporting research into PSRS is that it relies upon self report data acquired from questionaires
- these are subject to several effects which could bias the findings
- ptps could underreport their behaviour due to denial, shame or a memory lapse
- ptps could over report their behaviour as theres often competition between fans of celebrities to see who the most dedicated fan is
- they could respond to questions in a socially desirable way in which they feel enhances their social status
- this is a limitation as using a subjective method such as self report can lead to an under/overexaggeration of behaviours
- therefore since PSR research is based on the findings from self report data its validity is limited
a strength into research into PSRS is that it offers practical applications for the treatment of stalking
- suggested treatments include psychotherapy to address underlying causes with a role also for drug treatments to reduce obsessive tendencies
- this is a strength as this use of research into PSRS is clearly of great value to those on the receiving end of the behaviours as well as to the stalkers themselves
- therefore if research into PSRS leads to the formation of effective therapies this strengthens the validity of the theory
