What Are Parasocial Relationships? Are There Any Limitations?

Celebrities have a huge impact on the lives of their fans. Often, their fans become so influenced that they start imagining a relationship with them. This imaginary one-sided relationship that blossoms in a fan’s mind is called a parasocial relationship. A media-induced relationship makes the fans copy their dressing style, diet, and lifestyle.

This behavior trait, though not healthy, is surprising and well-documented in psychology. Do you know someone who is in a parasocial relationship?

Keep reading this article to find out more about this. Scroll down.

What Are Parasocial Relationships And Interactions?

Have you ever experienced a strong connection with your favorite on-screen celebrity, even though you have never met them? Do you ever wonder what they must be like in their off-screen lives? Do you sometimes wish they would become someone special in your life? These experiences are common and are termed as parasocial relationships. Here, an individual starts feeling a long-term connection with celebrities. It is a one-sided relationship, where one person gets emotionally invested and gives time and the other person is completely unaware of their existence. Such bonds can be positive or negative.

Let us try to understand these concepts with an example. Suppose you are watching an episode of Friends. You imagine having a conversation with Phoebe while watching the episode. However, if you like her so much that you think about her even when you are not watching TV, you have a parasocial relationship.

The more interactions one imagines having with their favorite celebrity, the stronger this relationship becomes. It is similar to how your relationship develops and becomes stronger with your friends when you spend more time with them.

The concept of parasocial relationships and interactions was first introduced by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in the 1950s. It was the time when TV sets started entering the living rooms of the public (1). However, they were also observed in the 1800s and early 1900s where people formed a one-sided relationship with heroes in books.

You may now wonder if parasocial relationships are healthy and how they differ from interpersonal relationships. Let us understand more in the following section.

Parasocial Vs. Interpersonal Relationships

There is nothing unhealthy about parasocial relationships. If you are an avid consumer of movies, sports, podcasts, radio, and TV shows, experiencing such bonds or parasocial relationships is absolutely normal.

In fact, they are an important part of adolescent life. Such bonds come without any conditions, anxieties, and fears of rejection.

Yes, such relationships don’t have enough dialogue around them because they are in their own imaginary thoughts and world. However, you may also want to note that humans are social beings. We thrive on relationships and seek comfort in the company of others. In many ways, parasocial relationships are similar to interpersonal relationships.

When a person sees or hears another person through media, the reaction in the brain is similar to that of a real-time situation. However, this does not mean that the person is not aware that such interactions are not real. In fact, they may be well aware that such interactions are illusions.

Kelly, a blogger, wrote a detailed blog post on all her celebrity crushes and how that affected her life. Ever since childhood, she had crushed over movie characters and boy band members and daydreamed about fictional characters she saw on screen. She wrote about her crush on Leonardo Di Caprio, “Somewhere along the way I had started having dreams about him. The companionship that “Dream Leo” showed me was something that I craved. the obsessive quality of what I was doing felt odd and I didn’t understand it. adults didn’t act this way, did they? (i)” She concluded her write-up on a positive note, “Each of these acting crushes have shaped me in their own ways and continue to do so as I follow up on them and their respective careers.”

Parasocial relationships tend to be similar to interpersonal relationships in several more ways. Individuals who develop these relationships spend time and effort strengthening and maintaining them, as they would with an interpersonal relationship (with our partners, loved ones, or friends).

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the celebrity personality ranks higher than their physical attraction. Fans do not form such relationships purely because they find their celebrities physically attractive.

For instance, a study showed how the viewers were more committed to TV characters Homer Simpson (fictional) and Oprah Winfrey (non-fictional). The study concluded that viewers were more committed to their parasocial relationship with such fictional and non-fictional characters because of the way they made someone feel watching them on TV (2).

During this study, the researchers demonstrated that the theories and measures associated with our interpersonal relationships also held true for parasocial relationships (2).

Interestingly, viewers also break up from their parasocial relationships. This can happen when the movie or show ends. In other scenarios, the viewer can discontinue relating with the celebrity and decide to no longer watch or listen to their shows (similar to F.R.I.E.N.D.S when the show ended after 10 years of broadcasting). Such reactions in parasocial bonds could be less intense than those in intersocial relationships.

Apart from these similarities, there are a few differences between parasocial and interpersonal relationships. For instance, there is no mutual give-take in parasocial relationships. It is purely one-sided, and the individual can decide to break off anytime without any consequences.

Did you know?

Celebrities to this day receive fan mail in various forms, but Taylor Swift once received a particularly peculiar and distinctive one. Standing out from the rest, it was a large, real turtle shell featuring her own face painted on it!

Internet and social media have further expanded the territory of parasocial relationships. Let us understand this further in the next section.

Parasocial Relationships And The Digital Age

While most of the work in the field of parasocial relationships has been for media and sports celebrities, the digital age has further added to its realm. Social media gives a new medium to develop and maintain these relationships.

As social media allows the fans a free window to communicate with their idols, they feel much closer to them. They can read and see what their favorite celebrities are up to. There is a constant stream of communication that helps in strengthening these relationships.

Additionally, parasocial relationships also help fans form social relationships. It is always easier to connect with other people if you have something in common. This is the reason fan clubs exist and are so popular, as they help fans feel less lonely and emotionally connected.

Trivia

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-followed European sportsperson on Instagram, with currently 613 million followers.

There are instances when real socialization is not possible. The perfect example is the ongoing pandemic where people had to limit their social relationships and contact. While we quarantined in our homes, most of our celebrity fascination turned to online-streaming platforms and binge-watched TV shows and series to overcome the loneliness.

Parasocial relationships help celebrities too. Their popularity depends on how much they are liked. These relationships, in a way, make their new releases a hit.

Although such bonds are always one-sided, social media platforms allow celebrities to contribute more to these relationships. For instance, they can go Live on Instagram or Facebook, read the messages from their fans aloud during such sessions, and share about their new releases or ask for advice.

At this point, you could be wondering if parasocial relationships can have any negative implications. Let us find out in the next section.

Are There Any Limitations To Parasocial Relationships?

Although parasocial relationships are healthy in most cases, they can have a few downsides as well.

• Holding A Celebrity On A Pedestal

As parasocial relationships are one-sided, individuals can form a wrong sense of reality. They end up forming bonds with celebrities and can put them on a high pedestal. If you are the non-celebrity in charge of steering the relationship, you could get easily influenced by these illusions.

When left unchecked, these non-celebrities can make wrong impressions of how real-life relationship is. For instance, they may end up putting their own needs above everyone else or may not want to compromise in their social interactions if they are unaware of their thinking.

• Forgetting That These Relationships Are One-Sided

At times, the non-celebrities can get so consumed in these bonds that they may forget these relationships are one-sided. They could forget that the celebrity does not know them and can start having unhealthy expectations.

Moreover, giving excessive amounts of time and effort to such relationships can take a toll on their mental health.

• Aggression

Fans have been aggressive with their favorite personality. This could be because their celebrity was in a relationship with someone else or they did something that let their fans down.

Even more common are the personal attacks on Twitter and Instagram, where fans of two celebrities get into verbal attacks because the celebrities had a disagreement.

• Body Image And Self-Esteem Issues

Parasocial relationships may give a person a false sense of reality. They often affect adolescent girls the most as they end up becoming soft targets of social comparison, particularly as some social platforms allow us to enhance our looks, impacting vulnerable girls who may already have low self-esteem. People use their own perception to decide what is good and try to measure up to it. There is no objective definition of what is good or bad because we all live a unique experience of life.

Apart from this, the current stream of influencers gives a false sense of reality to people. Their picture-perfect lives with envious lifestyles make people question their own. Earlier, people could differentiate fiction from reality. But they lose their power of discretion when they see embellished (and often paid) pictures of influencers.

Parasocial relationships are widespread despite their negative impacts. Are they essential in the current age of social media?

Are Parasocial Relationships Essential In The Age Of Social Media?

Before social media, fans would write letters to express their feelings to their beloved celebrities. They never knew if the people they held in such high regard would ever read their letters. They wrote in the hope of receiving a reply and felt it may help strengthen their bond.

In the present times, nobody writes letters anymore. Social media has given them free access to these celebrities they adore and have parasocial relationships with.

In fact, social media has brought new kinds of stars to our lives – the influencers. From styling clothes to the way one can shop to decorating one’s house, these influencers can have a serious impact on the lives of their followers. Their following that runs from a few hundred thousand to even a million is a testament to the fact that individuals are making more parasocial bonds than ever.

Social media is a platform that allows followers to be in touch with these influencers at all times. Bloggers and non-celebrities openly share the details of their lives. In most cases, it happens on a daily basis. This 24-hour access to social media stars gives a sense of intimacy, making them believe that their bond is special and strong. Over time, the followers get to know so much about these social media stars that they start believing they know and understand them.

Social media is an excellent platform for influencers and stars who want to build their brand. It allows them to be more present in the lives of their fans. They can share more and connect through different media and build a narrative that suits their interests. Parasocial relationships are more essential to the influencers in this digital age, as they have the power to impact their fans in positive ways.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are parasocial relationships romantic?

Parasocial relationships can be romantic in an one-sided manner in which an individual develops romantic feelings for a media persona.

Are online friends parasocial relationships?

No, parasocial relationships are characterised by one-sided attraction for media personalities like celebrities or influencers.

Do parasocial relationships cause depression?

Yes, obsessive parasocial relationships may lead to depressive symptoms (3).

Are parasocial relationships abnormal?

No, parasocial relationships are quite common and not considered to be abnormal. However, they are not very commonly or widely discussed.

When a parasocial relationship becomes excessive, individuals may experience emotional distress, and a blurred line between reality and the perceived connection. The video below shares how an internet stalker went too far in their parasocial interactions. Check it out!

(i) Parasocial Relationships, or, my history of celebrity crushes
https://gettingcaughtupinthemechanism.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/parasocial-relationships-or-my-history-of-celebrity-crushes/