Parasocial Relationships as Meaningful Relationships: An Exploratory Study of PSRs’ Relationship With Companionship and Emotional Support

• In Event: Social Cognition, Comparison, and Influence

Abstract

Countless studies have examined the purely hedonic, pleasurable experiences and benefits entertainment viewing can elicit. However, more recent theorizing in entertainment effects has shifted to explore a “two-factor” model of entertainment (Vorderer, 2011) in which mixed affect and more complex experiences such as feeling elevated, inspired, touched, and feelings of poignancy that focus more on intellectual and moral virtues and connecting to the human experience are integral parts of an entertainment experience. Rieger, Reineck, Frischlich & Bente (2014) recently found that such entertainment fare can influence one’s overall well-being, creating a form of media-induced recovery from life stresses (see also Reinceck, 2009; Rieger, Reinecke, Kneer, Frischlich, & Bente, 2013). The present study explores the beneficial effects parasocial relationships may have on one’s well-being. More specifically, this suggests one’s motivation to seek out entertainment is related to strength of parasocial interactions which may lead to either companionship or emotional support.

Author

• Meghan Shara Sanders, Louisiana State U