The Absorption-Addiction Model

Question 1

Research to support the absorption-addiction model:

Answer 1

-One strength of the absorption-
addiction model is there is research to support its claims that individuals may enter parasocial relationships due to poor psychological adjustment.
-Maltby (2005) investigated the link
between celebrity worship and body image in females aged 14-16 years. -It was found that the female adolescents who had poor body image reported intense-personal parasocial relationships with female celebrities whose body image they admired.
-This supports the correlation between the level of celebrity worship and poor psychological functioning.

Question 3

Issues with the absorption-addiction model being descriptive rather than explanatory:

Answer 3

-However, despite the research support, the absorption-addiction model has been criticised
for being a better description of parasocial relationships than it is an explanation.
-The model attempts to establish universal principles of behaviour (nomothetic approach) and as such
misses out on deep insight into the reasons for behaviour.
-For example, the model describes
the characteristics of people who are most absorbed by and addicted to a celebrity (borderline-psychological), however, unlike attachment theory, it does not suggest why these characteristics develop.
-An idiographic approach, looking into particular instances of
parasocial relationships, may be better suited to the reasons for why people develop them.