The People We Meet

Abstract

A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study reported Americans spend more time watching television than engaging in interpersonal activities. At the same time, television content is increasing in both complexity and quality, and important questions are emerging. With viewers spending increased time with television content through omnipresent screens and always-on mobile devices, and with the content becoming more compelling, are media effects changing? This study takes a fresh look at the deep relationships audiences have with today's complex television characters and the ultimate effects of those relationships by exploring parasocial interactions and relationships from an intrapersonal perspective. In this survey, we found compelling evidence that viewers use parasocial relationships to maintain relationships with television characters, keep conflict alive, undergo catharsis, and develop a better understanding of themselves and their viewpoints.

Using narrative media to satisfy intrinsic needs: Connecting parasocial relationships, retrospective imaginative involvement, and self-determination theory.

“…To supplement the relational component (i.e., parasocial relationships) of psychologically engaging with narratives, Slater et al (2018) introduced a scale for the measurement of retrospective imaginative involvement (RII). RII builds upon earlier work including parasocial interactions (Madison & Porter, 2015;Madison et al, 2016), fright reactions to narratives (Harrison & Cantor, 1999), fan behaviors (Ellithorpe & Brookes, 2018), and children's fantasy play (Götz et al, 2005) that indicate that people engage with narratives asynchronously (Ewoldsen et al, 2021). RII involves an individual (re)imagining a narrative, after the fact, potentially reliving particular scenes from the narrative or conjuring up alternative narrative paths or outcomes.…”

Dancing on My Own: Parasocial Love, Romantic Loneliness, and Imagined Interaction

“…This is different from the non-significant results reported in some of the prior studies which did not distinguish between different types of PSR or identify the sources of loneliness. This study joins a few other recent studies (e.g., Madison & Porter, 2015; Wang et al, 2008) to revisit the discussion of PSR's function to meet people's social needs. The prior studies on this subject, especially those following Rubin et al's (1985) approach, may have concealed distinct mechanisms underlying how people's relationship deficiency is related to their PSR with personae.…”

“My Superpower is Being Honest:” Perceived Credibility and Parasocial Relationships with Alex Jones

“…PSRs are one-sided relationships people have with mediated "personae" (Horton & Wohl, 1956). PSRs often begin through parasocial interaction (PSI) with a performer (Dibble, Hartmann, & Rosaen, 2016;Hartmann & Schramm, 2008) such as an actor, character, political candidate, or athlete, and may subsequently evolve into one-sided relationships through imagined interactions, or IIs (Madison & Porter, 2015;Madison, Porter, & Greule, 2016). While a PSR may form after experiencing a PSI, a PSI is not necessary for forming a PSR; a PSR may also form after simply becoming "acquainted" with a mediated figure through exposure.…”

“…Much like IIs, PSRs can be assessed in terms of their functions and characteristics (see Honeycutt, 2010). The functions of PSR include relationship maintenance, conflict linkage, selfunderstanding, compensation, and rehearsal (Madison & Porter, 2015). Individuals maintain connections to mediated personae through imaginative relationship maintenance.…”