Explaining Parasocial Relationships (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

Levels of parasocial relationships

• A parasocial relationship (PR) in A Level Psychology 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 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 a TV soap series

  • 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 were 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 the King of England won’t reply to my letters; his manager is trying to split us up’

The absorption addiction model

• The absorption-addiction model (AAM) describes 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 how an individual becomes consumed by their (imagined) relationship with the celebrity, e.g., ‘I wake up thinking about Cristiano Ronaldo, I eat my breakfast, lunch and dinner thinking about him and he 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 on 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 Taylor Swift’s garden; she spends all day noting down her movements and she has a tattoo on her arm which says ‘I would die 4 U, Taylor’ 

• 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

• The attachment theory of parasocial relationships (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

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 in A Level Psychology

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

  • This 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

Limitations

• 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

Issues & Debates

• The attachment theory explanation supports a nurture-based view, suggesting PRs develop from early attachment issues, especially insecure-resistant or avoidant styles

  • This suggests that childhood experience and relationship history shape our adult social behaviours, even towards fictional or distant figures

  • However, individual differences in personality (nature) may also play a role, highlighting the need for an interactionist approach