Anthony Hynes
Parasocial Relationships (PSRs) have become increasingly prevalent in social media environments, yet their relationship and impact that they may have on two-sided relationships remains unclear. The current study understands PSRs as multidimensional, influenced by media figures alongside social media capital and how they differ across social media platforms. Participants who more often used TikTok to reported significantly higher behavioural and decisional engagement than YouTube users. Weak positive relationships were found between social media capital and the PSR dimensions. Findings suggest the parasocial relationships act more as an extension of existing social ties rather than a replacement.
This project aimed to explore the relationship between parasocial relationships and social media captial, and how they differ across social media platforms. Specifically, it takes a multidimensional appoach to understanding both parasocial relationships through 4 dimensions (affective, behavioural, cognitive and decisional) and social media capital through its two factors, (social media confidence and social media connectedness). This study not only looked at the relationships between these dimensions, but how each dimension differed across the social media platforms users mostly interact with media figures (TikTok, YouTube and Instagram). The following research questions were addressed: 1) Do the social media platforms that users’ interact with media figures have an effect on the perceived levels of PSR dimensions? 2) Do the social media platforms that users’ interact with media figures have an effect on the perceived factor levels of SMC? 3)Is there a relationship between the PSR dimensions and the SMC factors? By addressing these, the study aimed to understand how different social media platforms facilitate different aspects of parasocial relationships, and if parasocial relationships act as substitute of two-sided relationships or act as more of an extensions of existing social ties.
The findings in this study found a significant increase in TikTok users, in the behavioural dimension (how users interact with the media figure on social media platforms) and the decisional dimension (how much media figures influences their daily life decisions) than YouTube users. This highlights the role of TikTok's algorithm driven content and constant interaction tools in intensifying parasocial experiences. Additionally, positive relationships were found between social media connectedness and the affective dimesnion (reflective of people's thoughts towards media figures), aswell as the behavioural, and decisional dimensions. This indicates that parasocial relationships and other social ties can occur concurrently, with the affective dimension representing the emotional closeness, the behavioural dimension reflecting general interaction between both real and parasocial relationships and the decisional dimension indicating that media figures can act as sources of influence similar to peers. Attachment Theory provides important framework in interpreting this findings as the correlation between the affective dimension and social media capital can represent a secure attachment style. The emotional connection measured remains consistent with participants’ parasocial relationships and social connections online allowing them to engage with media figures without relying on them as substitutes.
Hi I'm Anthony, I am a final year applied psyhology student with interests in educational psychology and cyberpsychology. I aim to pursue a career working with young people, driven by my passion in helping others and volunteering. My strong subjects throughout my academic journey include Developmental Psychology, Psychology in New Media and Entertainement, Research Methods + stats and Educational Psychology. I have gained valuable experience during my alturism and placement at Barretstown, and I have enjoyed doing talks to younger year groups about my time at Barretstown. I have strong communication and public speaking skills and am committed to promoting psychology and sharing my own experiences to help others.
