Levels of Parasocial Relationships (AQA A-Level Psychology): Revision Notes
Levels of Parasocial Relationships
What are parasocial relationships?
Parasocial relationships are one-sided emotional connections that individuals form with media figures such as actors, musicians, or television personalities. These relationships develop through repeated exposure to media content, where people begin to feel they know these personalities personally, despite having no real interaction with them.
People often find themselves drawn to certain media personalities because of attractive personal qualities they appear to demonstrate. Over time, these feelings can intensify, leading individuals to develop deeper emotional connections. In some cases, people may begin to organise their daily routines around consuming media content featuring their chosen personality, such as watching specific programmes at set times or following their social media accounts religiously.
The development of parasocial relationships is a gradual process that can occur without individuals realising the extent of their emotional investment. What begins as casual interest can evolve into more significant psychological attachment through repeated media exposure.
As these relationships strengthen, individuals might attempt to make them feel more real by purchasing merchandise, writing fan mail, or trying to communicate directly with the media personality. Some people may gradually lose touch with their real-world relationships as they become increasingly absorbed in their imagined connection with the celebrity.
McCutcheon's Celebrity Attitude Scale
McCutcheon and colleagues (2002) developed the Celebrity Attitude Scale to measure different intensities of parasocial relationships. This scale identifies three distinct levels that represent increasing degrees of involvement:
1. Entertainment-social level
This represents the mildest form of parasocial relationship. At this level, individuals enjoy discussing media personalities with friends and family as a form of social entertainment. They might follow celebrity news casually or watch programmes featuring their favourite personalities, but this interest remains relatively balanced and doesn't interfere with their daily functioning.
Characteristics of Entertainment-social level:
- Casual interest in celebrity news and content
- Social discussion about media personalities
- Balanced engagement that doesn't disrupt daily life
- Primarily entertainment-focused motivation
2. Intense-personal level
This intermediate level involves stronger emotional connections and higher levels of preoccupation with media personalities. Individuals at this stage experience more intense feelings about celebrities and may believe they have developed genuine emotional bonds with them. They might spend considerable time thinking about the celebrity or consuming media content related to them.
3. Borderline-pathological level
This represents the most extreme form of parasocial relationship, characterised by uncontrollable feelings and behaviours. Individuals at this level may experience obsessive thoughts about media personalities that significantly interfere with their normal functioning. Their behaviour may become increasingly divorced from reality, potentially preventing them from maintaining healthy real-world relationships.
Research using this scale has shown that most people who develop parasocial relationships remain at the entertainment-social level, with progressively fewer individuals reaching the more intense levels. This suggests that extreme parasocial relationships are relatively rare but can be highly problematic when they occur.
The absorption-addiction model
The absorption-addiction model, proposed by McCutcheon (2002), explains how parasocial relationships can progress through different levels of intensity. According to this model, most people recognise that their admiration for media personalities is primarily based on entertainment value and doesn't develop beyond this understanding.
However, some individuals may seek more intense parasocial relationships to compensate for dissatisfaction in their personal lives. For example, someone who feels they are underachieving might become particularly fascinated with a media personality they perceive as highly successful, hoping to experience some of that success vicariously.
Progression through the levels
Giles and Maltby (2006) described how individuals progress through the absorption-addiction model:
- Entertainment-social stage: People are initially attracted to media personalities simply because they find them interesting or entertaining
- Intense-personal stage: Individuals begin to feel a genuine emotional connection, sometimes believing they are "soul mates" with the celebrity
- Borderline-pathological stage: People develop uncontrollable behaviours and obsessive fantasies about their chosen media personality, becoming completely detached from reality and unable to maintain normal functioning
In extreme cases, this progression can lead to celebrity stalking, where individuals develop delusional beliefs about having intimate relationships with media personalities. This can occasionally result in physical violence towards the celebrity, as demonstrated in cases like the murder of John Lennon by an obsessed fan in 1980.
Contemporary research: Celebrity worship syndrome
McCutcheon and Houran (2003) conducted research into Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS), investigating how fascination with celebrities can become addictive and cross boundaries into abnormal obsession.
Research Study: Celebrity Worship Syndrome Investigation
Aim: To assess whether interest in media personalities can be divided into pathological and non-pathological categories.
Participants: 600 participants completed personality assessments and were interviewed about their level of interest in media personalities.
Procedure: Participants provided responses to statements such as "If he/she asked me to do something illegal as a favour, I would probably do it" to measure the intensity of their celebrity worship.
Findings:
- One third of participants showed signs of CWS
- 20% followed media personalities primarily for entertainment-social reasons and tended to be extroverts
- 10% displayed intense-personal attitudes towards celebrities, often believing they had special bonds with them. These individuals were typically neurotic, tense, and emotionally unstable
- 1% were classified as borderline-pathological, showing impulsive and antisocial behaviour, including celebrity stalkers and people willing to harm themselves or others for their chosen celebrity
Conclusions: The research challenged the idea that celebrity worship can be neatly divided into pathological and non-pathological categories. Instead, the findings suggested a sliding scale where celebrity devotees become progressively more fascinated with their chosen personalities.
Importantly, individuals with intense attitudes towards celebrities were more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and social dysfunction.
Supporting research evidence
Maltby et al. (2003) used Eysenck's personality questionnaire and found that people at the entertainment-social level scored highly on extroversion, while those at the intense-personal level scored highly on neuroticism. This suggests that personality factors influence the level of parasocial relationship people develop.
This research provides important evidence linking personality traits to different levels of celebrity worship, suggesting that individual psychological characteristics may predispose people to certain types of parasocial relationships.
Maltby et al. (2004) discovered that individuals in the entertainment-social category maintained good mental health, but those in higher categories were more prone to poor mental and physical health. This indicates that different parasocial relationship levels are associated with varying degrees of psychological wellbeing.
Meloy (1998) reported that stalkers often have histories of failed relationships and are typically not in romantic relationships when stalking occurs. The stalking behaviour appears to be a response to social incompetence and loneliness, suggesting that extreme parasocial relationships may develop from personal inadequacies.
MacDougal (2005) compared the devotion shown to deceased celebrities by some fans to that found in charismatic religions, suggesting that religious worship and extreme parasocial relationships may serve similar psychological functions.
Evaluation
Strengths
- Research support: Maltby's entertainment-social dimension aligns with Stever's (1991) observation that fans are attracted to media personalities because of their perceived ability to entertain
- Practical applications: Research into the absorption-addiction model shows that people often become interested in celebrities during times when they need direction in life, such as adolescence, and this interest can develop into addiction during crisis periods
- Treatment insights: Understanding stalking behaviour has led to more effective therapeutic approaches, including psychotherapy to address underlying causes and medication to reduce obsessive tendencies
Clinical Applications: The research has practical value for mental health professionals in identifying and treating problematic celebrity worship behaviours before they escalate to dangerous levels.
Limitations
- Individual differences: There's limited understanding of whether certain personality types are more likely to develop different intensities of CWS, or whether celebrity obsession causes changes in personality traits such as diminished self-esteem leading to depression and anxiety
- Methodological concerns: The three categories of individuals with CWS correspond to Eysenck's three personality dimensions (extroversion, neuroticism, psychosis), but in unequal proportions, which raises questions about the validity of the classification system
- Treatment limitations: While legal interventions like restraining orders are often the most effective way to manage celebrity stalkers, they can sometimes make stalkers more obsessive and potentially dangerous towards their targets
Critical Consideration: The correlation between personality types and CWS levels raises important questions about causality - do certain personalities predispose individuals to celebrity worship, or does intense celebrity worship change personality characteristics?
Key Points to Remember:
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Three levels exist: McCutcheon identified entertainment-social, intense-personal, and borderline-pathological levels of parasocial relationships, with each level representing increasing intensity and potential dysfunction
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Absorption-addiction model: This explains how people progress from harmless entertainment interest to potentially dangerous obsession, often triggered by personal dissatisfaction or life crises
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Personality links: Research shows extroverts are more likely to engage at the entertainment-social level, while neurotic individuals tend towards intense-personal involvement
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Mental health impact: Higher levels of parasocial relationships are associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and social dysfunction
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Research applications: Understanding these relationships has practical value for developing treatments for problematic celebrity worship and managing celebrity stalking behaviours