Gleason Tracy R, Theran Sally A, Newberg Emily M
Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA, USA.
Front Psychol. 2017 Feb 23;8:255. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00255. eCollection 2017.
Parasocial interactions and relationships, one-sided connections imagined with celebrities and media figures, are common in adolescence and might play a role in adolescent identity formation and autonomy development. We asked 151 early adolescents ( = 14.8 years) to identify a famous individual of whom they are fond; we examined the type of celebrities chosen and why they admired them, and the relationships imagined with these figures across the entire sample and by gender. Adolescents emphasized highly salient media figures, such as actors, for parasocial attention. While different categories of celebrities were appreciated equally for their talent and personality, actors/singers were endorsed for their attractiveness more so than other celebrity types. Most adolescents (61.1%) thought of their favorite media figures as relationship partners, and those who did reported more parasocial involvement and emotional intensity than those who did not. Gender differences emerged in that boys chose more athletes than girls and were more likely to imagine celebrities as authority figures or mentors than friends. Celebrities afforded friendship for girls, who overwhelmingly focused on actresses. Hierarchical parasocial relationships may be linked to processes of identity formation as adolescents, particularly boys, imagine media figures as role models. In contrast, egalitarian parasocial relationships might be associated with autonomy development via an imagined affiliation with an attractive and admirable media figure.
准社会互动和关系，即与名人和媒体人物想象出的单方面联系，在青少年中很常见，可能在青少年身份形成和自主性发展中发挥作用。我们让151名青少年早期个体（平均年龄 = 14.8岁）选出他们喜欢的一位名人；我们考察了所选名人的类型以及他们欣赏这些名人的原因，以及在整个样本中以及按性别划分与这些人物想象出的关系。青少年将高度突出的媒体人物，如演员，作为准社会关注的对象。虽然不同类别的名人因其才华和个性而同样受到赞赏，但演员/歌手因其吸引力比其他类型的名人更受认可。大多数青少年（61.1%）将他们最喜欢的媒体人物视为关系伙伴，那些这样认为的青少年比不这样认为的青少年报告了更多的准社会参与和情感强度。出现了性别差异，男孩比女孩选择更多的运动员，并且比将名人想象为朋友更有可能将名人视为权威人物或导师。名人给予女孩友谊，女孩绝大多数关注女演员。分层的准社会关系可能与青少年身份形成过程相关，因为青少年，尤其是男孩，将媒体人物想象为榜样。相比之下，平等的准社会关系可能通过与有吸引力且令人钦佩的媒体人物想象出的联系与自主性发展相关。
