Describe and evaluate one or more explanation of Parasocial relationships. (16 marks.)
The celebrity attitude scale (CAS) was used by Maltby et al to identify 3 levels of Parasocial
relationships. First level ‘entertainment social level’ celebs are looked at for entertainment and for
social interaction e.g discussing your favourite celebrity with a friend (least extreme level).Second
level ‘intense personal,’ intermediate level individuals feel they have a greater personal involvement
with a celebrity. Third level ‘borderline pathological’ is the strongest level of celebrity worship,
behaviour is extreme, investing large amounts in celebrities and fantasies.
McCutcheon suggests parasocial relationships form due to deficiencies in people lives. These
parasocial relationships allows individual to escape reality. People may be triggered to more intense
involvement due to personal crisis and stress. Self-absorption- the addiction model has two parts.
Absorption, seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship to motivate individuals to focus their attention on
celebrities and become preoccupied with them e.g. researching them and spending money on them.
Addiction like physiological addiction, individuals need to increase their dose involvement to gain
satisfaction and may lead to more extreme behaviour such as stalking and delusional thinking.
Some psychologists believe tendencies to form para relationships stem from early childhood
relationships. Ainsworth identified 2 attachment types associated with unhealthy relationships.
Insecure resistant types are most likely to form parasocial relationships as they want unfulfilled
needs met and where there is no threat of rejection. Insecure avoidant when they prefer to avoid
pain and rejection of relationship altogether, whether it be a social or parasocial relationship.
A Strength of the absorption addiction model is there is research support for it. For example Malty et
al assessed the relationship between levels of celebrity worship and personality using as personality
questionnaire. He found that the entertainment social level was associated with extraverted
personality traits, whilst the intense personal level was associated with neurotic personality traits.
Therefore this suggests that there is a correlation between the levels of the absorption model and
poor psychological functioning as predicted.
A limitation of the research into Parasocial relationships is that there are methodological issues
associated with research. For example the usual method to collect data on parasocial relationships is
using self-report measures. The problem with this is that as the topic of relationships is sensitive and
so increases the likelihood of social desirability effects. Thus this matters because as the absorption
addiction model uses this research evidence to base its ideas off, the validity of the model can be
questioned.
Another limitation of the attachment theory is that it does not consider individual differences. For
example shy and lonely individuals are more likely to form a Parasocial relationship as they are afraid
to form relationships. Ashe and McCutcheon found that shyness and loneliness in young adults was
associated with the strength of their parasocial relationships with celebrities. Therefore this matters
because according to the attachment theory Parasocial relationships are formed due to childhood
influences emphasising on parental styles whereas it may involve other factors.
The celebrity attitude scale (CAS) was used by Maltby et al to identify 3 levels of Parasocial
relationships. First level ‘entertainment social level’ celebs are looked at for entertainment and for
social interaction e.g discussing your favourite celebrity with a friend (least extreme level).Second
level ‘intense personal,’ intermediate level individuals feel they have a greater personal involvement
with a celebrity. Third level ‘borderline pathological’ is the strongest level of celebrity worship,
behaviour is extreme, investing large amounts in celebrities and fantasies.
McCutcheon suggests parasocial relationships form due to deficiencies in people lives. These
parasocial relationships allows individual to escape reality. People may be triggered to more intense
involvement due to personal crisis and stress. Self-absorption- the addiction model has two parts.
Absorption, seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship to motivate individuals to focus their attention on
celebrities and become preoccupied with them e.g. researching them and spending money on them.
Addiction like physiological addiction, individuals need to increase their dose involvement to gain
satisfaction and may lead to more extreme behaviour such as stalking and delusional thinking.
Some psychologists believe tendencies to form para relationships stem from early childhood
relationships. Ainsworth identified 2 attachment types associated with unhealthy relationships.
Insecure resistant types are most likely to form parasocial relationships as they want unfulfilled
needs met and where there is no threat of rejection. Insecure avoidant when they prefer to avoid
pain and rejection of relationship altogether, whether it be a social or parasocial relationship.
A Strength of the absorption addiction model is there is research support for it. For example Malty et
al assessed the relationship between levels of celebrity worship and personality using as personality
questionnaire. He found that the entertainment social level was associated with extraverted
personality traits, whilst the intense personal level was associated with neurotic personality traits.
Therefore this suggests that there is a correlation between the levels of the absorption model and
poor psychological functioning as predicted.
A limitation of the research into Parasocial relationships is that there are methodological issues
associated with research. For example the usual method to collect data on parasocial relationships is
using self-report measures. The problem with this is that as the topic of relationships is sensitive and
so increases the likelihood of social desirability effects. Thus this matters because as the absorption
addiction model uses this research evidence to base its ideas off, the validity of the model can be
questioned.
Another limitation of the attachment theory is that it does not consider individual differences. For
example shy and lonely individuals are more likely to form a Parasocial relationship as they are afraid
to form relationships. Ashe and McCutcheon found that shyness and loneliness in young adults was
associated with the strength of their parasocial relationships with celebrities. Therefore this matters
because according to the attachment theory Parasocial relationships are formed due to childhood
influences emphasising on parental styles whereas it may involve other factors.
