Parasocial interaction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Parasocial interaction (or para-social relationship) is a term used by social scientist to describe one-sided, parasocial interpersonal relationships in which one party knows a great deal about the other, but the other does not. The most common form of such relationships are one-sided relations between celebrities and audience or fans.[1]
The term was first introduced by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in their widely cited 1956 academic paper, "Mass Communication and Para-social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance", published in the Psychiatry journal.[2] [3]
Parasocial interaction has become an increasingly common phenomenon during the latter half of the 20th century, as it is coupled with the growth in popularity of television and film media.[1] They involve a real person on one end, but on the other end can have a real celebrity (talkshow host or famous sport player), an organization (sports team) and/or an entirely fictional character.[4]
Even though such one-way friendships are based on illusion of interaction via television rather than actual social interaction, a bond of intimacy is created and the viewers feel they really know the media character.[3] The viewer is made to believe that the person on the screen is communicating directly to them, even through the other participants - actors or players - have no knowledge or attachment to fans, other than as an aggregation of numbers comprising an audience and their income.[4]
Television executives have actively promoted parasocial relationships,[1] and the celebrities will often engage in the illusion of 'one-on-one' interaction with the audience, for example by addressing them directly. Talkshows for example are a type of a media programme that heavily relias on parasocial interaction. Soap operas are another.
In parasocial interaction there is no 'normal' social interaction; it is a very one-sided relation. The knowledgeable side has no direct control over the actions of the actions of the side it observes, and it is very difficult for it to contact and influence it.
Parasocial interaction is especially appealing to those who experience loneliness and shyness.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Ashe, Diane D., Lynn E. McCutcheon (2001). "Shyness, Loneliness, and Attitude Towards Celebrities". Current Research in Social Psychology 6 (9). ISSN 1088-7423.
- ^ Horton, Donald, R. Richard Wohl (1956). "Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance". Psychiatry 19 (3): 215-229. republished in Particip@tions 3 (1) ISSN 1749-8716
- ^ a b Freda D., Lewis (2000). Getting by: Race and Parasocial Interaction in a Television Situation Comedy. Dissertation.com. ISBN 1-58112-105-9.
- ^ a b Brooks, J. Michael (January 1997). "Beyond Teaching and Learning Paradigms: Trekking into the Virtual University". Teaching Sociology 25 (1): 1-14. ISSN 0092-055X.
[edit] Further reading
- Burnett, Ann, Rhea Reinhardt Beto (2000). "Reading Romance Novels: An Application of Parasocial Relationship Theory". North Dakota Journal of Speech & Theatre 13.
- Christine, Camella (2001). Parasocial Relationships in Female College Student Soap Opera Viewers Today. CTA Senior Thesis Papers. Hugh McCarney, Western Connecticut State University. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
- McCourt, Andrea, Jacki Fitszpatrick (February 2001). "The Role of Personal Characteristics and Romantic Characteristics in Parasocial Relationships: A Pilot Study". Journal of Mundane Behaviour 2 (1). ISSN 1529-3041.
- Rubin, R. B., M. P. McHugh (1987). "Development of parasocial interaction relationships". Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 13 (3): 279-292. ISSN 0883-8151(print) ISSN 1550-6878(online).
- Nass, Clifford; S. Shyam Sundar (1995-06-02). Is Human-Computer Interaction Social or Parasocial?. Social Responses to Communication Technologies research group, stanford University. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
