Parasocial Relationships with Musicians
Keywords:
Parasocial relationship, new media, musicians, attractionAbstract
Extending research on the development of parasocial relationships (PSR), the present study fits into a long line of research beginning with Rubin and McHugh’s (1987) seminal work investigating the how communication, liking, and intimacy interact as audiences form relationships with mediated characters. The current study applied Ruben and McHugh’s model to the unique connection consumers feel with their favorite musicians. Structural equation modeling reveals that these parasocial relationships with musicians differ from those previously found with more traditional media characters. The model confirms that music fans develop parasocial relationships with musicians, as well as reinforce previous findings that exposure is a powerful predictor of physical attraction. The results provide justification for extending the theoretical expectations of parasocial relationships to musicians.
References
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Blumler, J. G., & Katz, E. (1974). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on
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Bond, B. (2016). Following your “friend”: Social media and the strength of adolescents’ parasocial relationships with media personae. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(11), 656-660.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1, Attachment. London: Hogarth.
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Caughey, J.L. (1978). Artificial social relations in modern America. American Quarterly, 30, 70-89.
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Chen, C-P. (2014). Forming digital self and parasocial relationships on YouTube. Journal of Consumer Culture, 1-23.
Duran, R. L., Kelly, L. (1988). The influence of communicative competence on perceived task, social, and physical attraction. Communication Quarterly, 36, 41-49.
Derrick, J. L., Gabriel, S., & Tippin, B. (2008). Parasocial relationships and self‐discrepancies: Faux relationships have benefits for low self‐esteem individuals. Personal relationships, 15(2), 261-280.
Earnheardt, A. C. & Haridakis, P.M. (2009). An examination of fan-athlete interaction: Fandom, parasocial interaction, and identification. Ohio Communication Journal, 47, 27-53.
Ferris, K. O. (2010). The next big thing: local celebrity. Society, 47(5), 392-395.
Fitzgerald, T., & Savage, J. (2014). Beyond anonymity and the every-day: celebrity and the capture of educational leadership. Educational Review, 66(1), 46-58.
Frederick, E. L., Lim, C. H., Clavio, G., & Walsh, P. (2012). Why we follow: An examination of parasocial interaction and fan motivations for following athlete archetypes on Twitter. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(4), 481-502.
Frederick, E., Choong, H.L., Clavio, G., Pedersen, P.M., & Burch, L.M. (2014). Choosing between the one-way or two-way street: An exploration of relationship promotion by professional athletes on Twitter. Communication & Sport, 2(1), 80-99.
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Giles, D.C. (2003). Media Psychology. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Grazian, D. (2003). Blue Chicago. The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs. Chicago.
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Hazan, C. & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.
Hoffner, C. (1996). Children’s Wishful Identification and Parasocial Interaction with Favorite Television Characters. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 40 (3):389–402.
Hoffner, C., & Buchanan, M. (2005). Young adults' wishful identification with television characters: The role of perceived similarity and character attributes. Media Psychology, 7(4), 325-351.
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Kurtin, K.S., O’Brien, N., Roy, D., and Dam L. (2018). The development of parasocial relationships on YouTube. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(1): 233:252.
Labrecque, L.I. (2014). Fostering consumer – Brand relationships in social media environments: The role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28, 134-148.
Levy, M. (1979). Watching TV news as para-social interaction. Journal of Broadcasting, 23 (1): 177-187.
McCrosky, J.C., & McCain, T.A. (1974). The measurement of interpersonal attraction. Speech Monographs, 41, 261-266.
McKinna, D. R. (2013). The Touring Musician: Repetition and Authenticity in Performance. IASPM@ Journal, 4(1), 56-72.
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Muir D.W., Humphrey, E.E. & Humphrey, G.K. (1994). Pattern and space perception in young infants. Spatial Vision, 8 (1), pp. 141-165.
Mikulincer, M. & Shaver, P. (2007). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, & change. New York: The Guilford Press.
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Norton, M.I. & Frost, J.H. (2007). Less is more: The lure of ambiguity, or why familiarity breeds contempt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1): 97-105.
Rosaen, J. L. & Dibble, S.F. (2008). Parasocial interaction as more than friendship: Evidence for parasocial interactions with disliked media figures. Journal of Media Psychology, 23(3): 122-132.
Rubin, R., & McHugh, M.P. (1987) Development of para-social interaction relationships. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 31(III): 279-292.
Rubin, A. M., Perse, E.M., & Powell, R.A. (1985). Loneliness, parasocial interaction, and local television news viewing.” Human Communication Research, 12 (2):155-180.
Rubin, A. M., & Step, M. M. (2000). Impact of motivation, attraction, and parasocial interaction on talk radio listening. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44, 635-654.
Savage, M.E., & Spense, P.R. (2014). Will you listen? An examination of parasocial interaction and credibility in radio. Journal of Radio ad Audio Media, 21(1), 3-19.
Schmid, H., & Klimmt, C. (2011). A magically nice guy: Parasocial relationships with Harry Potter across different cultures. International Communication Gazette, 73(3), 252–269.
Schore, A.N. (2000). Attachment and the regulation of the right brain. Attachment and Human Development, 2 (1), 23-47.
Schramm, H. & Hartmann, T. (2008). The PSI Process Scales. A new measure to assess the utility and breadth of parasocial processes. Communication 33, 385-401.
Sprott, D., Czellar, S., & Spangenberg, E. (2009). The Importance of a General Measure of Brand Engagement on Market Behavior: Development and Validation of a Scale. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), pp. 92-104
Sroufe, L.A. (2005). Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood. Attachment and Human Development, 7(4), 349-367.
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Stever, G. (2011). 1989 vs. 2009: A comparative analysis of music superstars Michael Jackson and Josh Groban, and their fans. Journal of Media Psychology, 16 (1), Downloaded from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/.
Stever, G. (2010). Fan behavior and lifespan development theory: Explaining para-social and social attachment to celebrities. Journal of Adult Development. DOI: 10.1007/s10804-010-9100-0
Stever, G. (2009). Parasocial and social interaction with celebrities: Classification of Media fans. Journal of Media Psychology, 14, Downloaded from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/.
Stever, G. (1994). Para-social attachments: Motivational antecedents. Dissertation Abstracts International, B55/07, 3039, January 1995.
Stever, G. (1991). The celebrity appeal questionnaire. Psychological Reports, 68 (3), 859-866.
Theran, S.A., Newberg, E.M., & Gleason, T.R. (2010). Adolescent girls’ parasocial interactions with media figures. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 171(3), 270-277.
Van Es, K. (2017). The future of live. John Wiley & Sons.
Weeva. (2018). Starman - fan letters to David Bowie. Accessed Jan 8 2019 from https://bookstore.weeva.com/products/starman-fan-letters-to-david-bowie
Baek, Y., M., Bae, Y., & Jang, H. (2013). Social and parasocial relationships on social network sites and their differential relationships with users’ psychological well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(7), 512-517.
Bell, S. (2017, June). Katy Perry's Witness World Wide Generated Over 49 Million Views. Billboard. Accessed Jan 8 2019 from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7833673/katy-perry-witness-world-wide-49-million-views
Berger, C. R., & Calabrese, R. J. (1975). Some explorations in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of interpersonal communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99-112.
Blumler, J. G., & Katz, E. (1974). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on
gratifications research (Vol. 1974). Sage Publications, Inc.
Bond, B. (2016). Following your “friend”: Social media and the strength of adolescents’ parasocial relationships with media personae. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(11), 656-660.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1, Attachment. London: Hogarth.
Bresler, L. (2005). What musicianship can teach educational research. Music education research, 7(2), 169-183.
Caughey, J.L. (1978). Artificial social relations in modern America. American Quarterly, 30, 70-89.
Caulfield, K. (2017, June). Katy Perry Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Witness'. Billboard. Accessed Jan 8 2019 from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7833967/katy-perry-witness-no-1-album-billboard-200-chart
Chen, C-P. (2014). Forming digital self and parasocial relationships on YouTube. Journal of Consumer Culture, 1-23.
Duran, R. L., Kelly, L. (1988). The influence of communicative competence on perceived task, social, and physical attraction. Communication Quarterly, 36, 41-49.
Derrick, J. L., Gabriel, S., & Tippin, B. (2008). Parasocial relationships and self‐discrepancies: Faux relationships have benefits for low self‐esteem individuals. Personal relationships, 15(2), 261-280.
Earnheardt, A. C. & Haridakis, P.M. (2009). An examination of fan-athlete interaction: Fandom, parasocial interaction, and identification. Ohio Communication Journal, 47, 27-53.
Ferris, K. O. (2010). The next big thing: local celebrity. Society, 47(5), 392-395.
Fitzgerald, T., & Savage, J. (2014). Beyond anonymity and the every-day: celebrity and the capture of educational leadership. Educational Review, 66(1), 46-58.
Frederick, E. L., Lim, C. H., Clavio, G., & Walsh, P. (2012). Why we follow: An examination of parasocial interaction and fan motivations for following athlete archetypes on Twitter. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(4), 481-502.
Frederick, E., Choong, H.L., Clavio, G., Pedersen, P.M., & Burch, L.M. (2014). Choosing between the one-way or two-way street: An exploration of relationship promotion by professional athletes on Twitter. Communication & Sport, 2(1), 80-99.
Giles, D. C. (2002) Para-social interaction: a review of the literature and a model for future research. Media Psychology, 4(III), 279-305.
Giles, D.C. (2003). Media Psychology. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Giles & Maltby (2004). The role of media figures in adolescent development: Relations between autonomy, attachment and interest in celebrities. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 813-822.
Grazian, D. (2003). Blue Chicago. The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs. Chicago.
Hazan, C. & Shaver, P. (1994). Attachment as an organizational framework for research on close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5(1), 1-22.
Hazan, C. & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.
Hoffner, C. (1996). Children’s Wishful Identification and Parasocial Interaction with Favorite Television Characters. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 40 (3):389–402.
Hoffner, C., & Buchanan, M. (2005). Young adults' wishful identification with television characters: The role of perceived similarity and character attributes. Media Psychology, 7(4), 325-351.
Hoffner & Cantor, (1991). Perceiving and responding to mass media characters. In J. Bryant, & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Responding to the screen: Reception and reaction processes (pp. 63-101). Hillsdale, N J: Erlbaum.
Horton, D. & Wohl, R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction:Observations on intimacy at a distance.” Psychiatry, 19 (3) 215-30.
Horowitz, S.J. (2017, June). Katy Perry's 'Witness' Live Stream Had No Business Working -- But It Did. Billboard. Accessed on Jan 8 2019 from https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7825918/katy-perry-witness-live-stream-essay
Joinson, A. N. (2008). Looking at, looking up or keeping up with people?: Motives and use of Facebook. In Proceedings of the twenty-sixth annual SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1027–1036). New York: ACM Press.
Koenig, F., & Lessan, G. (1985). Viewers’ relations to television personalities. Psychological Reports, 57, 263-266.
Kowalczyk, C.M., & Pounders, K.R. (2016). Transforming celebrities through social media. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 25(4), pp. 345-356.
Kurtin, K.S., O’Brien, N., Roy, D., and Dam L. (2018). The development of parasocial relationships on YouTube. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(1): 233:252.
Labrecque, L.I. (2014). Fostering consumer – Brand relationships in social media environments: The role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28, 134-148.
Levy, M. (1979). Watching TV news as para-social interaction. Journal of Broadcasting, 23 (1): 177-187.
McCrosky, J.C., & McCain, T.A. (1974). The measurement of interpersonal attraction. Speech Monographs, 41, 261-266.
McKinna, D. R. (2013). The Touring Musician: Repetition and Authenticity in Performance. IASPM@ Journal, 4(1), 56-72.
McQuail, D., Blumler, J.G., & Brown, J.R. (1972). The television audience: A revised perspective. In D. Mcquail (Ed.), Sociology of Mass Communications: Selected Readings (pp. 135-165). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Muir D.W., Humphrey, E.E. & Humphrey, G.K. (1994). Pattern and space perception in young infants. Spatial Vision, 8 (1), pp. 141-165.
Mikulincer, M. & Shaver, P. (2007). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, & change. New York: The Guilford Press.
Nielsen. (2017, November). Time with tunes: how technology is driving music consumption. Accessed Jan 8 2019 from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2017/time-with-tunes-how-technology-is-driving-music-consumption.html
Nielsen. (2017, July). 2017 is shaping up to be the year of music streaming. Accessed Jan 8 2019 from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2017/2017-is-shaping-up-to-be-the-year-of-music-streaming.html
Norton, M.I. & Frost, J.H. (2007). Less is more: The lure of ambiguity, or why familiarity breeds contempt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1): 97-105.
Rosaen, J. L. & Dibble, S.F. (2008). Parasocial interaction as more than friendship: Evidence for parasocial interactions with disliked media figures. Journal of Media Psychology, 23(3): 122-132.
Rubin, R., & McHugh, M.P. (1987) Development of para-social interaction relationships. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 31(III): 279-292.
Rubin, A. M., Perse, E.M., & Powell, R.A. (1985). Loneliness, parasocial interaction, and local television news viewing.” Human Communication Research, 12 (2):155-180.
Rubin, A. M., & Step, M. M. (2000). Impact of motivation, attraction, and parasocial interaction on talk radio listening. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44, 635-654.
Savage, M.E., & Spense, P.R. (2014). Will you listen? An examination of parasocial interaction and credibility in radio. Journal of Radio ad Audio Media, 21(1), 3-19.
Schmid, H., & Klimmt, C. (2011). A magically nice guy: Parasocial relationships with Harry Potter across different cultures. International Communication Gazette, 73(3), 252–269.
Schore, A.N. (2000). Attachment and the regulation of the right brain. Attachment and Human Development, 2 (1), 23-47.
Schramm, H. & Hartmann, T. (2008). The PSI Process Scales. A new measure to assess the utility and breadth of parasocial processes. Communication 33, 385-401.
Sprott, D., Czellar, S., & Spangenberg, E. (2009). The Importance of a General Measure of Brand Engagement on Market Behavior: Development and Validation of a Scale. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), pp. 92-104
Sroufe, L.A. (2005). Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood. Attachment and Human Development, 7(4), 349-367.
Statistia. (2018). Twitter accounts with the most followers worldwide as of December 2018 (in millions). Accessed January 8, 2019 from https://www.statista.com/statistics/273172/twitter-accounts-with-the-most-followers-worldwide/
Stever, G. (2012). The role of Twitter in parasocial interactions between celebrities and fans. Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL August 4-7, 2012.
Stever, G. (2011). 1989 vs. 2009: A comparative analysis of music superstars Michael Jackson and Josh Groban, and their fans. Journal of Media Psychology, 16 (1), Downloaded from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/.
Stever, G. (2010). Fan behavior and lifespan development theory: Explaining para-social and social attachment to celebrities. Journal of Adult Development. DOI: 10.1007/s10804-010-9100-0
Stever, G. (2009). Parasocial and social interaction with celebrities: Classification of Media fans. Journal of Media Psychology, 14, Downloaded from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/.
Stever, G. (1994). Para-social attachments: Motivational antecedents. Dissertation Abstracts International, B55/07, 3039, January 1995.
Stever, G. (1991). The celebrity appeal questionnaire. Psychological Reports, 68 (3), 859-866.
Theran, S.A., Newberg, E.M., & Gleason, T.R. (2010). Adolescent girls’ parasocial interactions with media figures. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 171(3), 270-277.
Van Es, K. (2017). The future of live. John Wiley & Sons.
Weeva. (2018). Starman - fan letters to David Bowie. Accessed Jan 8 2019 from https://bookstore.weeva.com/products/starman-fan-letters-to-david-bowie
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