Topic Summaries

Online and parasocial relationships

A-Level > Psychology > AQA > A-Level Psychology Topic Summaries > Relationships > Online and parasocial relationships
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Addiction

  • Self-disclosure: revealing personal information about ourselves. Anonymity that comes with online communication leads to people taking less accountability for their actions so there is a higher level of self-disclosure faster than in face-to-face relationships.
  • Gating: obstacles that we use when we meet people face to face which determine if we let them further into our lives.
    • The absence of gating: (👥 McKenna and Bargh, 1999) self-disclosure can happen without any distractions such as stammering or off-putting characteristics that can come across in face-to-face communication. Online, people are more interested in what is being said. They can also stretch the truth and create an identity that they wouldn’t have in real life.
  • The reduced cues theory: (👥 Sproull and Kisser, 1986) online relationships are less effective than face to face relationships due to the lack of verbal cues present during communication which leads to a lack of trust. It leads to a lack of personal identity as de-individuation encourages disinhibition. This leads to blunt communication which reduces trust, and can lead to a lack of self-disclosure and consequently a lack of communication and connection.
  • The hyper-personal model: (👥 Walther, 2011) online relationships can actually become more intense more quickly than face to face relationships due to self-disclosure happening faster. People are able to skew their image online to seem more of an idealistic person. This is called selective self-presentation.
  • Levels of parasocial relationships: 👥 McCutcheon (2002) identified three levels of parasocial relationships:
    • Entertainment-social: the least intense level. Celebrities are only viewed as forms of entertainment.
    • Intense-personal: the intermediate level. It reflects personal in a parasocial relationship with a celebrity.
    • Borderline pathological: the strongest level of a parasocial relationship. There is an over-identification with the celebrity and their life, culminating in fantasies or delusions.
  • The absorption-addiction model: (👥 McCutcheon, 2002) parasocial relationships tend to form due to a deficiency in someone’s life. They may have low self-esteem, a weak sense of identity, or fail to develop fulfilling relationships in their own life. They use parasocial relationships as a way to escape reality. What may start as level one (entertainment-social) could turn into level three if triggered by a stressful event.
    • Absorption: seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship makes a person to turn their attention to over-identifying with a celebrity.
    • Addiction: they need to increase their closeness in order to gain satisfaction. This may lead to extreme behaviours or delusions.
  • The attachment theory explanation for parasocial relationships: many psychologists claim this relationship links to attachment problems in childhood. Insecure resistant children are the most likely group to form parasocial relationships later in life.
    • Proximity seeking: people want to be close to their attachment figure, so people seek out information about their celebrity which can exacerbate the parasocial relationship.
    • Secure base: people get security from parasocial relationships as there is little risk of rejection.
    • Protest at separation: will express anxiety at separation from attachment figure.

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