Our very own research had three significant seeks: (1) to examine adolescents’ selections of media figures and you can celebrities to own parasocial appeal, (2) to explore the fresh new prevalence and you will construal away from PSR within the a teen attempt, and you will (3) to determine if gender differences emerged in teenage parasocial procedure. In terms of adolescents’ different choices for news figures and celebrities, i hypothesized you to definitely very outstanding famous people, particularly stars and you may performers, might possibly be frequently mentioned, with all the way down pricing regarding acceptance having non-aesthetic stars or lifeless news rates. I also expected telecommunications anywhere between style of celebrity chosen and the services adolescents from the all of them, because extremely noticeable famous people might be of physical appearance, while athletes and you may non-performers is preferred for their speciality. To possess PSR, i asked adolescence who engaged in PSR to help you report significantly more hierarchical than just egalitarian relationships, however, for the the total amount one type looked, we questioned hierarchical PSR to be for the really love from an effective celebrity’s talent and you will egalitarian PSR becoming associated with the looks. We including requested PSR becoming of large engagement, power, and you will capital https://kissbrides.com/tr/slav-kadinlar/ inside the parasocial circumstances. In terms of gender distinctions, we requested greater affirmation off professional athletes among boys and you can performers among girls, higher costs of wedding, intensity, and you can PSR in girls than boys, as well as for boys to comprehend its celebs because of their skills alot more will than simply girls. Finally, we asked girls to be more personal regarding their parasocial facts than just boys.
Professionals
The initial sample was 107 girls (Mage = , SD = 0.35) and 61 boys (Mage = , SD = 0.42) in ninth grade at a public high school in a US Northeastern suburb. However, seven girls (6.5%) and eight boys (13.1%) did not identify a celebrity of whom they were particularly fond, so the final sample included 100 girls (Mage = , SD = 0.35) and 53 boys (Mage = , SD = 0.38). This ratio reflects the gender ratios in much of the research on PSI (Cohen, 1999, 2003, 2004; Cole and Leets, 1999; Maltby et al., 2006; Derrick et al., 2008, 2009). Adolescents were 73% Caucasian, 12% Asian, 8% Biracial, 2% Latino, 2% African-American, and 1% Native-American (2% chose “Other” or did not respond), and approximately 75% had at least one parent who had graduated college. Participation (72.3%) was solicited through a letter and consent form sent to parents through the school. Participants received a $5 gift certificate for ice cream, and the school received a donation. This study was carried out with the approval of and in accordance with the recommendations of the Wellesley College Ethics Review Board with written informed consent from parents and assent from all participants in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Strategies
A study handled aspects of (PSI/PSR) in addition to character out of a-listers picked for parasocial desire therefore the diversity and adaptation for the quasi-relationships dreamed with the stars. I investigated if superstar vocation otherwise relationship envisioned have been related to the features teenagers admired inside their chose celebrities, along with mental and you will behavioural manifestations out of PSI/PSR, such as participants’ number of wedding within the parasocial issues, the latest emotional concentration of the experience, their efforts finding out about their chosen celebrities, and if they mutual their interest within these mass media numbers with friends. People were basic asked to understand a same-sex celebrity from just who they certainly were including happy (“Really teenage girls/boys keeps popular celebrity or a favorite character of Television, flick, or pop people: and this Women/Male Superstar will you be particularly fond of?”). g., Derrick ainsi que al., 2008).
Star Kind of
Mass media figures called was categorized towards the five star models: 1 = actors, dos = sports athletes, 3 = singers, 4 = general superstars (elizabeth.g., talk show servers Oprah), and you may 5 = publishers. Celebrities that suit with the numerous kinds (age.grams., Oprah is also a celebrity) was indeed coded with regards to the group which they certainly were most useful identified. A couple independent coders scored the solutions; reliability is highest (kappa = 0.92). Disagreements was indeed solved of the dialogue.