Parasocial

Parasocial interaction (PSI) offers an explanation of the ways in which audience members develop their one-sided relationships with the media being consumed. PSI is described as an illusionary experience, such that media audiences interact with personas (e.g., talk show host, celebrities, characters) as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them, and feel as though a mediated other is talking directly to them. PSI can be developed to the point where media audiences begin to view the mediated others as"real friends". Feelings of PSI are nurtured through carefully constructed mechanisms, such as verbal and nonverbal interaction cues, and can carry over to subsequent encounters.

Parasocial interaction was first described from the perspective of media and communication studies. In 1956, Horton and Wohl explored the different interactions between mass media users and media figures and determined the existence of a parasocial relationship, where the user acts as though they are involved in a typical social relationship. However, parasocial interaction has existed before mass media, when citizen would establish a bond with political figures, gods or even spirits. Since then, the term has been adopted by psychologists, in furthering their studies of the social relationships that emerge between consumers of mass media and the figures they see represented there. Initially, Horton and Wohl viewed parasocial interactions as abnormalities resulting from a lack of time spent with others. Perse and Rubin (1989) contested this view, finding that parasocial interactions occurred as a natural byproduct of time spent with media figures.

Although originated from a psychological topic, the researches of PSI were made extensively in the area of mass communication, with manifold results being produced. Psychologists started to show their interest in the concept in the 1980s and researchers began to develop the concept extensively within the field of communication science. Many important questions about social psychology were raised, concerning the nature of relationships that are problematic for existing theories in those fields. The concept of parasocial interaction, and detailed examination of the behavioral phenomena that it seeks to explain, have considerable potential for developing psychological theory.

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