Explaining Parasocial Relationships (AQA A Level Psychology)

Levels of parasocial relationships

• A parasocial relationship (PR) is a one-sided relationship in that one of the partners (who is generally the object of the other person’s affection/desire/obsession/adoration) is unaware that the relationship exists

• A PR tends to be focused on someone who is famous or well-known e.g. a sportsperson, a pop star, a ‘reality’ celebrity, a film star, a writer

• According to Maltby et al. (2006) there are three levels of parasocial relationships:

  • Entertainment-social - this is what might be termed the ‘fun’ level of PR in which a celebrity or a source of entertainment such as a TV programme provides diverting gossip and social bonding e.g. Ken and Dierdre spend every coffee break at work having a good old chat about Coronation Street

  • Intense-personal: this entails a more serious and focused interest in a famous person involving frequent thoughts and daydreams about them e.g. Ziggy thinks that if David Bowie was still alive then the two of them would be best friends

  • Borderline pathological - this level spills over into deviant and abnormal behaviour as it may involve extreme acts and delusional thoughts about the celebrity e.g. ‘No wonder Idris Elba won’t reply to my letters; his manager is trying to split us up’

Eminem’s ‘Stan’ is a good example of borderline pathological ‘fan’ behaviour.

The absorption addiction model

• The absorption-addiction model (AAM) describes, by very definition of its title, the unhealthy, possibly toxic level of obsession that some people may succumb to in their ‘star worship’

• The absorption aspect of the model refers to the ways in which an individual becomes consumed by their (imagined) relationship with the celebrity e.g. ‘I wake up thinking about Susan Boyle, I eat my breakfast, lunch and dinner thinking about her and she is the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night’

• The addiction aspect of the model refers to the increasing dependence that the person has for the celebrity; the craving they experience for the celebrity, possibly leading to the addicted person taking extreme measures to fuel their addiction e.g. Fenella lives in a tent across the road from Bradley Walsh’s garden; she spends all day noting down his movements and she has a tattoo on her arm which says ‘I would die 4 U, Bradley’ 

• The model posits that the type of people who are likely to take a PR to a borderline pathological level tend to:

  • Lack a strong sense of self

  • Be prone to faulty, distorted thought processes

  • Lack a sense of fulfilment and achievement in other areas of their lives

  • Have difficulty forming or maintaining romantic and/or platonic relationships

Attachment theory explanation of parasocial relationships

• In Year 1 of your A Level Psychology course you will have covered Bowlby’s Attachment theory which concerns the ways in which young babies develop meaningful and significant relationships with adult caregivers

• The attachment theory of PR argues that people who have dysfunctional attachment styles e.g. insecure-resistant or insecure-avoidant (Ainsworth, 1970) are more likely to form PRs than securely attached adults

• The idea behind this explanation of PRs is that a lack of care, nurture and positive attention in childhood may lead to someone feeling that close personal relationships are fraught with difficulties or are just too overwhelming, so they seek a PR with someone who cannot cause them any pain and who will not make demands of them

• One of the benefits of a PR is that it can be controlled (in someone’s imagination at least) and shaped to suit someone’s changing needs, even to the point of ‘ending’ the relationship if a new obsession comes along e.g. Rachel used to be completely obsessed with Jennifer Aniston but she’s all about Angelina Jolie now

Do you keep up with the Kardashians? Is Kim your favourite? Or do you really not kare at all?...

Research which investigates parasocial relationships

• Greenwood & Long (2009) - an intense-personal relationship with TV characters reflects a deep psychological need for companionship and a sense of belonging

• Greenwood & Long (2010) -  attachment style and relationship status predict PRs: single participants and participants with an insecure attachment style showed greater imagined intimacy with opposite-sex celebrities than those in a relationship or those with no attachment anxiety

• Schmid & Klimmt (2011) - 2551 Harry Potter fans from Germany and Mexico reported similar levels of PRs with the character which demonstrates that PRs may be a cross-cultural phenomenon

Evaluation of parasocial relationships

Strengths

• There is some good research support for the AAM: Maltby et al. (2005) found that adolescent girls in particular have an intense-personal relationship with female celebrities which in turn may contribute to them developing eating disorders and/or body dysmorphia due to the effect of comparing themselves negatively to the celebrity

• The AAM can also be explained using the halo effect (the adored celebrity can do no wrong), which means that the theory has some validity

Weaknesses

• Much of the research into PRs uses self-reporting methods which means that it may suffer from social desirability bias  

• Asking people about their PRs could potentially be embarrassing as it requires participants to disclose sensitive information, meaning that ethics may be compromised as a result of investigating this topic

Link to Approaches

The Learning Approach could be used to explain PRs: an individual may find that they enjoy living vicariously through the actions and behaviours of their favourite celebrity. The person may see the celebrity as a role model from whom to learn by imitating their behaviours e.g. their mannerisms, speech patterns, clothing, hairstyle. They may begin to identify with the celebrity to the extent that their own identity is subsumed into that of the celebrity.