Parasocial Relationships A.g

Front 1

What is a parasocial relationship?

Back 1

- One-sided relationships

- 1 person expends considerable energy, interest and time although the other person is unaware of their existence.

- Mass media (tv...) give the viewer the illusion of having a FtF relationship w/ a particular person.

Front 2

Why do people get involved according to the Absorption-Addiction Model?

Back 2

- McCutheon explains tendency to form parasocial relationships in terms of deficiencies people have in their own lives.

- They may have a weak sense of identity & lack of fulfilment in their own lives.

- Could be poorly adjusted psychologically.

- Parasocial relationship makes up for deficits & enable a sense of identity.

- Lange et al suggest a lack of meaningful relationships may lead an individual becoming increasingly 'absorbed' by lives of their parasocial friends.

Front 3

Outline the Absorption part of the Absorption-Addiction Model.

Back 3

- Individual seeks fulfilment in celebrity worship.

- Involves 'effortless focusing attention' leading fans to believe they have a special relationship w/ that celebrity.

- Motivates them to focus as much attention as possible on celebrity to become preoccupied in their existence & identify w/ them.

- If level of absorption is strong enough they move to a higher level of parasocial interaction until it becomes addictive.

Front 4

Outline the Addiction part of the Absorption-Addiction Model.

Back 4

- Parasocial relationship escalates through a series of stages.

- Leads to more extreme behaviours & delusional thinking in order to sustain satisfaction w/ parasocial relationship ( like drug addict needing more & more drugs to satisfied).

- @ borderline-pathological level involvement becomes progressively stronger & is required to remain connected w/ celebrity.

- Extreme cases = celebrity stalking & obsessive-addictive disorder where they may develop an illusion that they genuinely are in an intimate relationship.

- Initial interest & development of parasocial relationship is via absorption however interest is maintained by psychological addiction.

Front 5

What scale is used to measure levels of a parasocial relationships and name the levels?

Back 5

- Celebrity Attitude Scale

- Maltby et al identified 3 levels that lead to addiction if individual has a weaker sense of identity:

1. Entertainment Social

2. Intense-Personal

3. Borderline Pathological

Front 6

Outline the Entertainment Social Level.

Back 6

- Least intense level

- Celebrities are viewed as a source of entertainment & fuel for social interaction.

- Fans watch, read & learn about celebrity for entertainment purposes.

- Fruitful source of gossip in the office .

Front 7

Outline the Intense-Personal Level

Back 7

- Intermediate Level

- Reflects a greater personal involvement

- Includes intense & compulsive feelings about celeb.

- E.G referring to celeb as 'soulmate'

Front 8

Outline the Borderline Pathological Level

Back 8

- Strongest level

- Features uncontrollable fantasies & extreme behaviours

- Includes spending or planning to spend a large some of money on celeb-related objects (paraphernalia).

- Individuals empathise w/ celeb & identify w/ their success & failures.

Front 9

Outline the importance of the attachment theory on formation of parasocial relationships.

Back 9

- Tendency to for parasocial relationships in adolescence & adulthood b/c attachment difficulties in early childhood.

- Bowlby's Attachment Theory suggests such early difficulties might lead to emotional troubles later in life.

- Ainsworth identified 2 attachment types associated w/ unhealthy emotional development: insecure-resistant & insecure-avoidant.

Front 10

Outline the likelihood of forming a parasocial relationship for insecure-resistent & insecure-avoidant.

Back 10

- insecure-resistant most likely to form a parasocial relationship as an adult.

- They need to have unfulfilled needs met but in a relationship that is not accompanied w/ rejection, break up, disappointment & inconsistency that real life relationships bring.

- Insecure-avoidants prefer to avoid the pain & rejection of any relationship altogether.

Front 11

Outline the 3 fundamental properties of adult attachment in parasocial relationships (Weiss).

Back 11

1. Proximity Seeking

- Attempt to reduce the distance between themselves & their attachment figure.

-Like to stay informed & rearrange schedules to see them.

- May even attempt to contact them.

2. Secure Base

- Sense of security & a safe haven.

- Allows them to explore the world & other relationships in a safe way b/c little or chance of rejection from attachment figure.

3. Protest @ Disruption

- Best marker of attachment

- Presence of prolonged distress following separation or loss of attachment figure, e.g. dismissal of tv show.

- Creates emotions that are typical of the loss of an attachment figure.

Front 12

Strength

for absorption-addiction model: Research Support

Back 12

- Claims individuals may enter parasocial relationships due to poor psychological adjustment.

- Maltby investigated link between celebrity worship & body image in females aged 14-16.

- Found female adolescents who had poor body image reported intense-personal parasocial relationship w/ female celebrity w/ a body image they admired.

- Supports correlation between level of celebrity worship & poor psychological functioning.

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Hint 12

- What does the model claim parasocial relationships are due to?

- What link did Maltby investigate and what was his participant sample?

- What link did he find w/ female adolescents?

Front 13

Limitation of Absorption-Addiction model: limited validity

Back 13

- Model criticised for being a better description of parasocial relationships than it is an explanation.

- Model described characteristics of people most absorbed & addicted to a celeb.

- Unlike attachment theory it doesn't suggest how characteristics develop.

- Questionable validity b/c not fully explaining its claims of how parasocial relationships are developed.

Hint 13

- What is the model being criticised for?

- What does the model describe?

- What doesn't this model do that the attachment theory?

-Why is the validity questionable?

Front 14

Limitation of the Absorption-Addiction Model: Negative Views towards Parasocial Relationships

Back 14

- Suggests parasocial relationships are psychopathological as it claims individual maintained relationship by means of psychological addiction.

- Model pathologises relatively normal behaviour such as gossiping about celebs.

- Due to ease of access the media this is a part of everyday life.

- Negative view raises concerns for model as not all parasocial relationships lead to mental illnesses.

Hint 14

- What does the model suggest about parasocial relationships?

- Example of when the model pathologises relatively normal behaviour & why is this behaviour normal?

- Why do these negative views raise concerns?

Front 15

Limitation of Attachment theory: Contradictory Evidence

Back 15

- McCutheon et al measured attachment types & celebrity related attitudes in 229 pp's.

- Found pp's w/ insecure attachment were no more likely to form parasocial relationships w/ celebs than those w/ secure attachments.

- Findings fail to support the central prediction of the theory which raises issues w/ validity.

Hint 15

- What did McCutheon measure & in how many pp's?

- What did he find?

- Why are there issues w/ the validity of the theory?

Front 16

Strength of explanations of parasocial relationships: Cultural Similarities.

Back 16

- Schmid & Klimmt used online questionnaires to investigate the differences in these relationships formed w/ Harry Potter.

- Despite cultural differences between Germany (individualistic) & Mexico (collectivist) fans from both displayed similar patterns of parasocial relationships.

- Online surveys revealed that fans from both cultures admired Harry Potter & found commonalities between their own lives & relationships.

- Demonstrates universal influence of mainstream media characters & culture similarities in formation on parasocial relationships.

Hint 16

- What did Schmid & Klimmt use online questionnaires for?

- What 2 countries were studied & what was found?

- What did the online surveys reveal?

- What does this show the universal influence of?