Keywords

parasocial interaction, advertising spokesperson, reality television

Abstract

Parasocial interaction is the name that Horton & Wohl coined to describe a viewer's attachmentent toward onscreen persona that they had never physically interacted with (1956). A. Rubin, Perse, & Powell (1985) continued the research and created the Parasocial Interaction Scale. The scale has become the standard in gauging parasocial interaction in various forms of media from soap operas to newscasts. The purpose of this study was top examine parasocial interaction and see if the concept could be applied to the current television trend of reality television. Simultaneously, the study also examined parasocial interaction and its possible connections to loneliness, interpersonal functional alternatives, television viewing motives, exposure, gender, age, and spokesperson selection. The data for this study was collected on the Internet website www.Survivorthesis.com. More than 450 respondents attempted the survey, but only 444 were viable due to incomplete data, repetition, and lack of proof of age. The results of the study found that there was a link between parasocial interaction and loneliness, exposure, spokesperson selection, and television viewing motives. There was no correlation found between parasocial interaction and interpersonal functional alternatives, age, gender.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2006

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Collins, Steven

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Nicholson School of Communication

Degree Program

Communication

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0001090

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0001090

Language

English

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Included in

Communication Commons

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