Relationships- parasocial relationships

Question 1

What is a parasocial r/ship

Answer 1

When an individual will believe they are in a relationship with someone of a higher status

Question 2

When does an individual usually come across the media personality

Answer 2

TV shows / films

Question 3

How does the person feel when they see the media person in TV Shows / films

Answer 3

Comes to think of seeing these people on the screen as an actual physical experience with them.

Question 4

How do parasocial r/ships usually start

Answer 4

On a basis of friendship (albeit, a very one-sided friendship)
but very often proceed in physical attraction and sexual desire.

Question 5

What did McCutcheon et al find and what did it suggest

Answer 5

Found a negative correlation of -0.4 between amount of education and celebrity worship.
This suggests that the lower the education, the more intense the worship of the personality.

Question 6

What did Maltbt et al do

Answer 6

Used the Celebrity Attitude Scale (developed by McCutcheon 2002) to identify three levels within parasocial relationships:

1) Entertainment-social subscale
2) Intense-personal subscale
3) Borderline-pathological subscale

Question 7

What is the entertainment-social subscale

Answer 7

Celebrities viewed as fuel for social interaction, like gossiping about someone in a workplace or school.

Question 8

What is an intense-personal subscale

Answer 8

Intense thoughts and feelings are felt about the celebrity, individuals like to share these thoughts with others who feel a similar way.

Question 9

What is a borderline-pathological subscale

Answer 9

Features uncontrollable and extreme behaviours.
These might include spending or planning to spend a large sum of money on a celebrity related topic, or being willing to perform some illegal act at the celebrities say so.

Question 10

Who developed the absorption addiction model

Answer 10

McCutheon

Question 11

The absorption addiction model explains….

Answer 11

the tendency to form parasocial relationships in terms of deficiencies people have in their own lives.

Question 12

What does the absorption addiction model state parasocial r/ships can do for people

Answer 12

Allow them an escape from their own lives.

Question 13

In summary, people who form PSRs have a ……..

Answer 13

Deficiency

Question 14

People who form PSRs have what 2x things

Answer 14

• weak sense of self identify
• lack of fulfilment in their - everyday relationships
  poorly adjusted psychologically

Question 15

What is level 1 of the AA model

Answer 15

Absorption

Question 16

What happens in the aborption stage

Answer 16

Seeking fulfilment from the celebrity motivates the individual to become preoccupied and identify with them.
Gives a ‘feel good’ factor.

Question 17

What is level 2 of the AA model

Answer 17

Addiction

Question 18

What happens in level 2 of the AA model

Answer 18

Individual needs a more intense involvement to sustain commitment to relationship.
Could lead to extreme behaviours like stalking them, and/or delusional thinking.

Question 19

Evaluation
- Evidence (Maltby)

Answer 19

P- There is evidence to support this model

E- Maltby (2003) found that individuals in the entertainment-social category were mentally healthy.

E- This makes sense as the majority of teenagers who experience this go on to be healthy.
However, those in higher categories had poor mental and physical health.

L- This suggests… support for the A-A model as it shows ‘deficiencies’ in people’s lives are linked to intense PSR, therefore making the theory more credible.

Question 20

Evaluation
- contradictory research

Answer 20

P- However, not all parasocial relationships are negative and A-A model neglects that PSR can be functional.

E- For example, in some cases where people have lost an attachment figure (e.g., parental death or divorce) people can seek comfort in PSR.

E- If done in a harmless way (i.e., staying in the earlier levels of PSR such as the entertainment-social level) this can provide much needed relief and therefore benefit their emotional and social wellbeing.

L-This research suggests that… the addiction-absorption model of PSR may encounter issues when applied to ‘some’ real life cases, reducing the practical applications.

Question 21

Evaluation
- Methodological problems

Answer 21

P- There are major methodological issues with research into parasocial relationships.

E- For instance, most research studies on PSRs use self-report methods to collect data, e.g., online questionnaires. These are subject to a number of effects that can bias the findings. E.g., participants may respond in a way which they think enhances their social status (social desirability bias).

E- The second issue arises because most studies use correlational analysis. Strong correlations are found between celebrity worship and body image, for example. But, we cannot infer cause and effect from this, there could be a third variable that causes both, such as their attachment style.

L- Therefore, researchers need to be careful they do not infer causation within their conclusions, and further research is needed to establish the true cause.

Question 22

Evaluation
- Cross-cultural support

Answer 22

P- There is cross cultural support for this model as well, suggesting it’s a nomothetic law.

E- Schmid and Klimmt (2011) report that this tendency to form PSRs is not culture specific.
Using an online questionnaire, they found similar levels of PSR attachments to Harry Potter in an individualistic culture (Germany) and a collectivist culture (Mexico).

L- This suggests that this research can be generalised across cultures, increasing the usefulness as it can be applied to a greater population.

Question 23

Evaluation
- Application

Answer 23

P- This model has got real world application - helping us understand eating disorders in much more depth.

E- For instance, 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 these females had a poor body image. They speculated this could be a precursor to the development of anorexia.

L- Therefore, this can help identify those at risk of developing a harmful mental health condition so that they can get the treatment they need. Therefore it can be said to have positive effects on society.