parasocial relationships Flashcards
parasocial relationship definition
an individual is attracted to another person (usually a celebrity) who is usually unaware of the existence of the person who has created the relationship
3 spec points for parasocial relationships
levels of parasocial relationships
the absorption addiction model
the attachment theory explanation.
Levels of parasocial relationships
Entertainment social
Intense-parasocial
Borderlie pathological
Entertainment social
The first level
The least intense level of celebrity worship.
At this level, celebrities are viewed as sources of entertainment and fuel for social interaction.
eg: friends with more than a passing interest in soap operas might enjoy discussing stories in magazines about actors on Eastenders or Coronation Street.
Intense-personal
The second level
This is an intermediate level which reflects a greater personal involvement in a parasocial relationship with a celebrity.
These might include frequent obsessive thoughts and intense feelings, perhaps even considering the celebrity to be a ‘soul mate’.
Borderline pathological
Strongest level of celebrity worship, featuring uncontrollable fantasies and extreme behaviours.
These include spending, or planning to spend, a large sum of money on a celebrity related object, or being willing to perform some illegal act on the celebrity’s say-so.
The absorption- addiction model
Individuals can become psychologically absorbed w a celebrity to establish a sense of fulfilment.
Motivational forces driving this absorption might then take on an addictive component, leading to more extreme behaviours in order to sustain the parasocial relationship
- the tendency to form parasocial relationships arises from deficiencies people have in their own lives.
eg a weak sense of self-identity and a lack of fulfilment in their everyday relationships - Parasocial relationships allow people to escape from reality or to find fulfilment that they can’t achieve in their actual relationships.
Attachment theory
Bowlby’s attachment theory
It has been argued that the development of parasocial relationships in adolescence and adulthood is because of attachment difficulties in early childhood
Bowlby’s attachment theory suggested that these early difficulties may lead to emotional troubles later in life.
Ainsworth’s attachment types
People displaying an insecure resistant attachment type are most likely to form parasocial relationships as adults.
This is because of their need to have unfulfilled needs met. But in a relationship, that is not accompanied by the threat of rejection, breakup and disappointment which real life relationships bring.
AO3
str: research application
lim: lack of support for attachment theory
str/lim: body image
str: universal
str: research application
Research into parasocial relationships has useful applications.
Maltby inked types of personality (extravert, psychotic and neurotic) 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, supporting the absorption-addiction model.
This suggests that research into parasocial relationships can be used to improve professionals’ understanding of psychological disorders and help people struggling with psychological disorders.
lim: lack of support for attachment theory
There is a lack of support for attachment theory explanations.
McCutcheon et al. (2006) examined the correlation between attachment type and celebrity worship levels using 229 participants, and found no link between insecure-resistant attachment and more intense levels of parasocial relationships.
This contradicts the claim made by attachment theory explanations and suggests that there is no link between attachment type and parasocial relationships.
str/lim : body image
Support for absorption-addiction model.
Maltby: measured the relation between celebrity worship and body image in teenagers.
They found that teenage girls who were at the intense-personal level of celebrity worship tended to have a poor body image, especially if they particularly admired a celebrity’s physical appearance.
BUT correlational
Cause and effect cannot be clearly established, lowering the scientific explanatory power.
This does not mean that intense celebrity worship causes poor body image. It may as well be that girls who already have a poor body image tend to engage in a more intensive level of parasocial relationships to enhance their self-esteem.
str: universality
Research into celebrity worship seems to be describing a universal phenomenon.
For example, Schmid and Klimmt studied levels of parasocial relationships with characters from the Harry Potter books in different cultures, and found similar levels of worship in Germany (individualist culture) and Mexico (collectivist culture).
This suggests that the absorption-addiction model is universally applicable.
