Parasocial relationships Flashcards
(16 cards)
What are parasocial relationships
One sided unreciprocated relationships usually with a celebrity where the fan extends alot if emotional energy, time and commitment
Why may people for parasocial relationships?
Lack of real relationships in their own life
- Appealing to some individuals because the relationship makes no demands
- Avoids the risk of criticism and rejection
- Weak sense of self-identity
- Lack of fulfilment in their own lives/allows an escape from reality
Who is most likely to form a parasocial relationship
people who are considered attractive by the viewer and viewed as similar to themselves
occur in all age groups most likely 11-17
What are the levels of parasocial relationships (Celebrity Attitude Scale)
Entertainment social
Intense personal
Borderline pathological
What is the entertainment social level
the least intense level of celebrity worship
Fans are attracted to a
favourite celebrity and will watch and keep with that celebrity for the purposes of entertainment and gossip.
What is the Intense personal level
level involves a deeper level of involvement and reflects intensive and compulsive feelings about the celebrity.
Obsessive fans might have frequent thoughts
and intense feelings towards their favourite celebrity.
What is the Borderline psychological level
strongest level of celebrity worship.
Individuals at this level identify with the celebrity’s successes and failures.
It is characterised by over identification with the celebrity and uncontrollable behaviour and fantasies about their lives.
For example, this might include spending a lot of money on a celebrity related object/visit or a willingness to perform an illegal act
What are the strengths of the Parasocial levels
supported by research
Evaluate supported by evidence as a strength of the levels of Parasocial relationships
P: Predictions are supported by research.
E: McCutcheon et al (2016) used the Celebrity Attitudes Scale to measure levels of PSRs. They also assessed participants problems in their intimate relationships.
Participants who scored as borderline pathological or intense-personal tended to experience a high degree of anxiety in their intimate relationships.
People at the entertainment-social level generally did not (although even this level was associated with other relationship problems).
E: This is a strength because this suggests that celebrity-worshippers can usually be classified into three categories.
Therefore, this model helps us to predict actual PSR behaviours.
What are the components of the Absorption addition model
Absorption
Addition
What is Absorption
Seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship motivates an individual to focus their attention as far as possible on the celebrity, to become preoccupied with the celebrity and identify with them.
The motivational forces driving this absorption might then take on an addictive component, leading to more extreme behaviours to sustain the parasocial relationship.
What is Addiction
The individual needs to increase their ‘dose’ to gain satisfaction. This may lead to more extreme behaviours and delusional thinking. For example stalking the celebrity because they believe that the celebrity really wants to reciprocate their feelings.
At the borderline pathological
level, the PSR becomes addictive because of the progressively stronger involvement that is now required to remain ‘connected’ with the celebrity.
This interest is maintained by means of psychological addiction.
What is a strength of the Absorption-Addiction model
supporting evidence
What is a limitation of the Absorption-Addiction model
limited explanation
Evaluate supporting evidence as a strength of the Absorption Addition model
P: Supporting evidence.
E: Maltby et al (2005) assessed males and females aged 14-16 years. The researchers were
particularly interested in 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 might contribute to the development of an eating disorder.
E: Strength because it supports the model’s prediction of an association between poor
psychological functioning and the level (type and intensity) of PSR. Therefore, giving the AAM validity.
Counterargument: However, a limitation of the research into PSRs is that the supporting
research produces data which is typically 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 bodyimage. It is very difficult to know the direction of causality
Evaluate the limited explanation as a limitation of the Absorption Addition model
P: Provides a description rather than an explanation of the
processes involved in PSRs.
E: 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 does not explain how
such characteristics develop.
E: This is a limitation because this weakens the usefulness for the theory and doesn’t give
insight into how to reduce the behaviours at the pathological level.
L: Therefore, significantly limiting its usefulness in understanding who is most likely to develop a PSR
