The influence of the parasocial relationship on the learning motivation and learning growth with educational YouTube videos in self regulated learning

Abstract

Parasocial relationships (PSRs) or parasocial interactions (PSIs) have been extensively researched in the field of marketing and television. As a result, we know that viewers form strong relationships with presenters and this greatly impacts the product they sell. However, whether this effect also impacts learning through educational videos is rarely researched. In this study, the correlation between PSI and learning growth, as well as learning motivation, was investigated. The results showed no correlation between PSI and learning growth, but a slight correlation between PSI and learning motivation, especially in the case of female participants. This shows potential for the creation of educational videos. Simultaneously, the findings are important for the training of teachers, because through research on PSI we understand the factors that can lead to the improvement of interaction and relationships.

Parasocial relationships with morally ambiguous media characters – the role of moral foundations

“…Parasocial relationships (PSRs) describe different kinds of social relationships audience members develop toward media characters (Giles, 2002); like social relationships, these can range from falling in love with the protagonist of a romantic movie to supporting an avatar in a video game. Early research often focused on non-fictional characters such as news presenters or talk show hosts (e. g., Perse, 1990;Rubin, Haridakis, & Eyal, 2003;Rubin, Perse, & Powell, 1985), while nowadays PSRs are often analyzed with real people, such as influencers or celebrities, in the context of social media (e. g., Beautemps & Bresges, 2022;Kowert & Daniel, 2021;Sokolova & Kefi, 2020). In studies about viewers' parasocial engagement with fictional media characters in television, a significant number of studies analyze viewers' favorite media characters (e. g., Branch, Wilson, & Agnew, 2013;Cohen, 2004;Eyal & Te'eni-Harari, 2013;Hoffner, 1996;Lather & Moyer-Guse, 2011;Rosaen & Dibble, 2008;Schmid & Klimmt, 2011), often resulting in the study of classical movie heroes.…”