Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: People regularly form one-sided, “parasocial” relationships (PSRs) with targets incapable of returning the sentiment. Past work has shown that people engage with PSRs to support complex psychological needs (e.g., feeling less lonely after watching a favorite movie). However, we do not know how people rate these relationships relative to traditional two-sided relationships in terms of their effectiveness in supporting psychological needs. The current research (Ntotal = 3085) examined how PSRs help people fulfil emotion regulation needs. In Studies 1 and 2, participants felt that both their YouTube creator and non-YouTube creator PSRs were more effective at fulfilling their emotional needs than in-person acquaintances, albeit less effective than close others. In Study 3, people with high self-esteem thought PSRs would be responsive to their needs when their sociometer was activated, just as they do with two-sided relationships.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institutions: University of Essex, University of Sussex
Language: English
Topic: Media Influence and Health
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,590
OpenAlex ID: W4394570432