About this Project

Parasocial relationships, defined as one-sided emotional attachments that individuals often create with celebrities or inanimate beings, have become extremely abundant in our current society as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These relationships seemed to supplant face-to-face communication and reportedly decreased loneliness; however, many of these relationships ultimately resulted in increased levels of isolation. Previous literature has discussed the benefits of such relationships, highlighting how they enabled identity development in children and younger adolescents. There is an overall lack in research on the development and affects of parasocial relationships in adults; thus, this research will involve surveying individuals 18 and older and finding a correlation about their demographics and the strength of their parasocial relationships to ultimately find which demographics should be targeted when spreading awareness of parasocial relationships. This research is being conducted by student Haarika Donepudi, a senior at Rock Canyon High School.

Transcript: 

Hello, my name is Haarika Donepudi. I am a senior at Rock Canyon High School, and I am currently conducting research on the the identification of the demographics of parasocial relationships. So for some context, parasocial relationships are one-sided emotional attachments that individuals often create with a celebrity or artificial being. These relationships typically lead to adolescent character development. Previous research from the Journal of Children and Media concluded that the relationships children created varied based on age and gender, and they were typically based on the attractiveness of the celebrity because children link trustworthiness and attractiveness. Frontiers in Psychology found that gender differences because the relationships created typically aligned with steoreotypes, and most children preferred watching those who are similar to them. Finally, the PsychedUp concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic caused an increase in parasocial relationships which have continued to our current society. They fulfilled socialzation requirements and caused a decrease in the necessity for face-to-face communication; however, they increased the risk of isolation. Previous literature has effectively concluded that varying ages and genders in children affect the relationships made, and although such relationships come with benefits such as character development and fulfilling socialization requirements, they also bring the potential risk of isolation. Thus, my question is "what demographics older than 18 typically exhibit parasocial relationships?" I decided to use the age range of older than 18 because individuals typically first begin using social media when they are between the ages of 5 to 18, so by this age, the participants being surveyed should have effectively finished creating parasocial relationships. Additionally, there is an overall lack in research on adults creating parasocial relationships which shows the gap in research. Although previous literature has discussed parasocial relationships in the context of child identity development with their benefits and associated risks, there is a lack in the identification in other demographics. I ultimately began this research due to my interest in child development and psychology which is how I found out about parasocial relationships; however, as I continued to research, I found there was a lack in research on adults and how such relationships may affect their lives. Thus, this research is important by finding the demographics of individuals who create parasocial relationships so these individuals can be targeted when working to spread awareness in the future. Spreading awareness of these relationships is important because it is healthy to recognize their effects to effectively make decisions on what they wish to prioritize in their social lives. I plan on distributing the survey through snowbal sampling and gaining consent and assent before I ask participants to fill out a 22 question survey. I will quantify their results on a point scale and use a Pearson's R test to determine the strength of the parasocial relationships made and their correlation to the identified demographics. This should cost no money, and participants are informed of the associated risks. Additionally, they are encouraged to opt out of any question or the survey entirely at any point if they feel discomfort. I plan on completing my methodology and survey and gaining IRB approval in December. I will send out the surveys in January and February, analyze the results and draw conclusions in March, and write my final research paper in April. Please feel free to fill out my survey if you are interested and older than 18. It will be linked on my website. Here are my sources, and thank you so much for your time.