Benefits & Risks

It’s not just black and white.

Benefits

  • Psychologists say don’t replace real relationships for parasocial ones, but they can have benefits

  • Allow people to experiment with feelings they might be afraid of

    • Attachment 

    • Dependence

    • Rejection

  • Celebrities can be role models 

  • When you’re in ‘fan’ mode, you’re more likely to be more extroverted than normal 

  • PSRs can help individuals process grief

  • Woman’s husband died, later she formed a crush on a celebrity, it helped her realize she could have romantic feelings again, might date again

  • Para-social roles are influenced by the spectator's real-life roles and social situations. These roles can relate to personal achievement demands or self-conceptions. Enacting para-social roles allows for exploration of new roles, reliving past roles, or idealizing everyday roles. Para-social roles often represent an idealized version of real-life roles.

  • Media helps spectators understand and anticipate the behaviors of others in different roles and situations

  • Media can provide roles for those who feel isolated or lack opportunities in their real social environments

  • Personality programs especially offer a chance for spectators to enjoy social interaction and validation

  • Media can often highlight ordinary people, celebrating their achievements and qualities to reinforce their social importance and confidence

  • PSRs can offer consistency and reliability

  • PSRs cannot meet personal needs directly (e.g., hugs, emotional support) but also cannot reject or abandon individuals

  • Loss of a PSR (e.g., a celebrity) can cause genuine grief, but that relationship can be reignited through consuming existing media

  •  Far from being a last resort for the socially disconnected, PSRs have an important role within people’s social portfolios, and are a valuable social resource that can help fulfill emotional needs

Risks

  • Dangerously obsessive fans are not as common 

  • Borderline-pathological fans tend to be at the risk for anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder, fantasies can cause them to detach from reality

  • “Crazy” fans tend to be socially isolated 

    • Friends/ family might be able to talk these kinds of fans out of inappropriate behavior

  • Social media & the internet develop much faster than our brains.

    • Our brains have difficulty differentiating between our real-life relationships and the ones we have online

  • If, for any reason, the PSR has to end, the fan can experience genuine grief and heartbreak, but with no guarantee that the celebrity is feeling the same way

  • Trouble starts when fans who are depressed think their fav star is their savior or Messiah– stars can NEVER fulfill this role  

  • PSRs can lead to unrealistic expectations of real relationships

  • Riva Tukachinsky found younger people who have intense PSR with celebs have idealized thoughts about what relationships look like:

    • They should like everything about the person 

    • Good relationships are free of conflict

  • Social media can be bad for celebrities

    • If they’re honest about political or racial views it could hurt their career

    • Racy photos can be leaked

  • Targets of harassment and doxing if you express controversial views

    • Fans often project their own political and moral views onto their favorite celebrity. If the celebrity does not align with those projections, it can cause the fan to feel genuine feelings of betrayal.

  • Para-social relationships become problematic when they replace genuine social interactions or disregard real-life realities

  • Unlike real people, the celebrity persona is not allowed to change their personalities that have been crafted for them by their management or their character