Attachment, Belongingness Needs, and Relationship Status Predict Imagined Intimacy With Media Figures

The present study uses an interpersonal relationships measure (Relationship Rating Form [RRF], Fraley & Davis, 1997) to assess both imagined intimacy with a favorite media figure and real intimacy with close others among 173 undergraduates. We examine how relational tendencies (attachment style, need to belong) and relationship status (single or partnered) interact to predict degree of imagined intimacy with same and opposite gender media figures. Results indicate that intimacy reported with a same gender friend is positively correlated with imagined intimacy for a same gender media figure. However, a compensatory pattern emerged with romantic relationships: single individuals reported greater imagined intimacy with opposite gender media figures than those in a relationship. Attachment anxiety and the need to belong (NTB) were positively predictive of imagined intimacy with opposite gender media figures for single individuals only. Social psychological motivations for media attachments are discussed.

[1]  Jonathan Cohen.  Parasocial relations and romantic attraction: Gender and dating status differences , 1997 .

[2]  K. Davis,et al.  Attachment formation and transfer in young adults’close friendships and romantic relationships , 1997 .

[3]  Larry E. Toothaker,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions , 1991 .

[4]  Jaye L. Derrick,et al.  Parasocial relationships and self‐discrepancies: Faux relationships have benefits for low self‐esteem individuals , 2008 .

[5]  D. Giles.  Parasocial Interaction: A Review of the Literature and a Model for Future Research , 2002 .

[6]  Dara N. Greenwood,et al.  Psychological Predictors of Media Involvement , 2009, Commun. Res..

[7]  C. Hazan,et al.  Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[8]  Appeal of Love Themes in Popular Music , 2003, Psychological reports.

[9]  Phillip R. Shaver,et al.  Security-Based Self-Representations in Adulthood: Contents and Processes. , 2004 .

[10]  L. F. Barrett,et al.  The Internal Working Models Concept: What do we Really know about the Self in Relation to Others? , 2000 .

[11]  A. Rubin,et al.  LONELINESS, PARASOCIAL INTERACTION, AND LOCAL TELEVISION NEWS VIEWING , 1985 .

[12]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  Creating Social Connection Through Inferential Reproduction , 2008, Psychological science.

[13]  Edward L. Fink,et al.  Loneliness, Gender, and Parasocial Interaction: A Uses and Gratifications Approach , 2008 .

[14]  D. Greenwood.  Idealized TV friends and young women's body concerns. , 2009, Body image.

[15]  Philip Palmgreen,et al.  Development and validation of a parasocial interaction measure: The audience‐persona interaction scale , 2000 .

[16]  Dara N. Greenwood,et al.  Young women's attachment style and interpersonal engagement with female TV stars , 2008 .

[17]  Laura Leets,et al.  Attachment Styles and Intimate Television Viewing: Insecurely Forming Relationships in a Parasocial Way , 1999 .

[18]  W. Gardner,et al.  Social Snacking and Shielding: Using Social Symbols, Selves, and Surrogates in the Service of Belonging Needs , 2005 .

[19]  T. Kasser,et al.  Why do Adolescent Girls Idolize Male Celebrities? , 2005 .

[20]  D. Horton,et al.  Mass communication and para-social interaction; observations on intimacy at a distance. , 1956, Psychiatry.

[21]  D. Greenwood.  Of Sad Men and Dark Comedies: Mood and Gender Effects on Entertainment Media Preferences , 2010 .

[22]  Gary Alan Fine,et al.  Imaginary Social Worlds: A Cultural Approach , 1984 .

[23]  Kelly A. Brennan,et al.  Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. , 1998 .

[24]  R. Baumeister,et al.  The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[25]  J. Maltby,et al.  The role of media figures in adolescent development: relations between autonomy, attachment, and interest in celebrities , 2004 .