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parasocial relationships - Coggle Diagram
parasocial relationships
Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships where one person expends considerable emotional energy and interest and feels very close to them. - not reciprocal as the other person is unaware
entertainment level
least intense
- the person keeps up with their celebrity and finds out information about them for the purpose of entertainment and fuel for social interaction
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The attachment theory
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Hazan and Shaver=insecure resistant children fall in love easily, demonstrated jealousy and worried that their partners might abandon them
Cole and Leets- individuals with an insecure-resistant attachment style = more likely to engage with parasocial relationships
particular attachment styles form parasocial relationships in adolescence and adulthood because of attachment difficulties in early childhood
intense personal
intermediate level
- intensive and compulsive feelings for the celebrity - referring to a celebrity as a ‘soul-mate’
- intense interest in the celebrity’s personal life, such as their dress sense, food they like
borderline pathological
strongest level
- person has over-identified with the celebrity and their fantasies and behaviour may have become uncontrollable
- person takes celebrity worship to an extreme and has obsessive fantasies about the celebrity
EVALUATION
Mixed Evidence
- there is a link between childhood attachments and parasocial relationship
- positive correlation between insecurely attached individuals and frequently contacting celebrities.
Roberts
- 200 undergraduate students to complete an attachment styles questionnaire and a self-report scale measuring frequency of attempts to contact a favourite celebrity
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EVALUATION
Research to Support
- individuals may enter parasocial relationships due to poor psychological adjustment
Maltby
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female adolescents = poor body image =intense-personal parasocial relationships with female celebrities whose body image they admired
- girls who already have a poor body image = engage in a more intensive level of parasocial relationships to enhance their self-esteem
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