Toward a Multi-Dimensional Model of Adolescent Romantic Parasocial Attachment

Abstract

Relationships with media figures-referred to as parasocial relationships-provide a means for adolescents to explore and define their romantic and sexual identities (Boon & Lomore, 2001; Engle & Kasser, 2005; Karniol, 2001). However, more often than not, adolescents' romantic attachments to media figures are ignored or dismissed as frivolous in the scholarly literature on youth development (Caughey, 1984; Jenkins, 1992; Willis, 1972). In this paper, we introduce a theoretical model of Adolescent Romantic Parasocial Attachment (ARPA), designed to facilitate a comprehensive, developmentally-based line of research that improves our understanding of the ways adolescents experience parasocial romance and the influence their experiences may have on their lives. Implications for the study of adolescent romantic development and future research directions are proposed.

Becoming the King in the North: identification with fictional characters is associated with greater self–other neural overlap

“…In addition, recent evidence suggests that there are differences in the neural representation of romantic partners compared to other close attachment figures ( Laurita et al. , 2017 ), highlighting the need for future work in this vein to be sensitive to the nature of the attachment involved as other recent work has similarly identified distinct effects of romantic parasocial attachment as compared to parasocial attachment in general ( Erickson and Dal Cin, 2018 ; Erickson et al. , 2018 ).…”

Me, Myself, and My Favorite Media Figure: An Objectification Perspective on the Role of Media and Peers in Early Adolescents’ Self-sexualization

“…Extending objectification research, the current study looks into adolescents' tendency to objectify their favorite media figure which has been largely underexplored. However, from a developmental perspective, it might be especially relevant to pay attention to media figures (defined as actors, presenters, as well as celebrities; Giles, 2002), who provide a means for adolescents to explore and define their romantic and sexual identities (Erickson, Harrison, & Dal Cin, 2018) and who may serve to inspire self-improvement among youth (Eyal & Te'eni-Harari, 2013). Notably, attachment to and idealization of media figures seem especially relevant for adolescents (e.g., Giles & Maltby, 2004;Te'eni-Harari & Eyal, 2015).…”

Design, Use, and Effects of Sex Dolls and Sex Robots: Scoping Review

“…It is also established that parasocial interactions and relationships are linked to well-being [ 60 ]. Romantic and erotic relationships between humans and media figures are common (eg, adolescent girls falling in love with members of boy groups from the music industry) and psychologically meaningful and helpful [ 61 ]. Established measures for parasocial interactions and relationships between humans and media personas could be adapted to investigate human–sex doll interactions and relationships.…”