Adolescent Girls' Parasocial Interactions With Media Figures

• Published in: The Journal of genetic psychology Vol. 171; no. 3; pp. 270 - 277
• Main Authors: Theran, Sally A., Newberg, Emily M., Gleason, Tracy R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.07.2010; Heldref Publications; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Development; Adolescents; Adults; attachment; Attachment Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Celebrities; Developmental psychology; Developmental Tasks; Emotions; Factor Analysis; Female; Females; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grade 9; High School Students; Humans; Imagination; Individuation; Interpersonal Relations; Interpersonal Relationship; Life Style; Likert Scales; Motion Pictures; Object Attachment; parasocial interactions; Personality; Popular Culture; Projection; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reality Testing; relationships; Self Actualization; Self Concept; Social Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symbolism; United States (Northeast); Human; Affect affectivity; adolescents; Social development; relationships; Social behavior; Affective attachment; attachment; Social interaction; parasocial interactions; Adolescent; Female; Interpersonal relation

We examined aspects of adolescent girls' parasocial interactions in the context of typical development. Parasocial interactions are defined as symbolic, one-sided quasi-interactions between a viewer and a media figure. In total, 107 adolescent girls were examined; 94% reported engaging in paras...