Are Parasocial Relationships Healthy...or Harmful?

Do you feel a special connection with a celebrity or famous person? You might be in a parasocial relationship. Myles Bess explores the psychology of parasocial relationships and seeks to answer the question: Why do some people have them and are they harmful?

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*What is a parasocial relationship?*
Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships where one person spends all this time and energy on another person, usually someone famous like an actor, musician, athlete, or influencer, and that second person has no idea the other person even exists. They’re pretty common.

*Why do some people form parasocial relationships?*
There are a few different ideas for why some people might form these bonds. One theory is called parasocial attachment theory, which suggests that forming parasocial relationships has a lot to do with your attachment style. Attachment styles describe how you relate to people and it’s thought to be influenced by how you bonded with your caregivers when you were young. People with avoidant attachment styles tend to not form these types of relationships, whereas people with more anxious and secure attachment styles tend to have a wider variety of parasocial relationships.

*What are some benefits of parasocial relationships?*
Parasocial relationships can actually help motivate positive changes and well-being for some people. The tween and teen years in particular are a time when people tend to form parasocial relationships, and some research suggests those relationships can help with identity formation and autonomy. Some research has found that when celebrities share their mental health struggles, can motivate people to seek out information about mental health and make people feel like they are part of an in-group that might have similar struggles. Additionally, some research suggests that parasocial relationships can actually help decrease prejudice and stereotypes.

*What are some of the downsides of parasocial relationships?*
Parasocial relationships can be problematic if they interfere with or take the place of real-life relationships. For example, research has found that they can contribute to anxiety, loneliness, and social isolation, especially if they involve social media. And there’s research that suggests that intense parasocial relationships can be linked to addiction to social media platforms. And if someone feels a parasocial connection to someone who displays problematic or negative behavior or traits, then that person might also pick up some of those things as well.

SELECTED SOURCES
What are Parasocial Relationships (Medical News Today)

Parasocial Relationships: The Nature of Celebrity Fascinations (Find a Psychologist)

What are Parasocial Relationships (Psych Central)

What is attachment theory? (VeryWell Mind)

New Thriveworks research shows abundance of parasocial relationships in the US (ThriveWorks)
The relations between YouTube addiction, social anxiety and parasocial relationships with YouTubers: A moderated-mediation model based on a cognitive-behavioral framework (Humans and Computer Behavior)

The role of media figures in adolescent development: Relations between autonomy, attachment, and interest in celebrities (Personality & Individual Differences)

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:40 What is a parasocial relationship?
1:47 History of parasocial relationships?
2:47 Parasocial attachment theory
3:59 Potential benefits of parasocial relationships
5:48 Potential drawbacks of parasocial relationships
6:46 Parasocial relationships and human nature

[AboveTheNoise]

Have you ever had a parasocial attachment with someone? Do you think these relationships are harmful, healthy or somewhere in between? Share your perspective in the comments!

[mygirlg]

I have a few parasocial relationships with YouTubers and I like them. Those people don't expect anything from me, I don't have to text them back but they bring me happiness and inspire me to try new things.

[jamesglosangeles]

Intense parasocial relationships can also lead people to throw around large amounts of money for a few seconds of recognition during a live stream.

[kyokoyumi]

Kpop really does this quite well. You feel a strong connection with the artists and they almost are required to talk to their fans all the time. They also use familiar language and the groups fandom name becomes almost like a singular entity they speak to as though they were a friend.
From an objective perspective, it's really *really* weird because we don't know these korean men at all.
From a subjective perspective, I'm on the floor when my ult bias says "I love you [fan name]" cause it feels like he's talking directly to me.
Kpop is 100% parasocial relationships and they're perfectly fine within reason. Sometimes people need that familiarity and "friendship" or just that general love and care because they don't get it at home or (like me) don't have many (if any) friends (I have two, one of them is my wife and the other is her best friend.) so sometimes that connection can feel more real than even the connections you have with people you see face to face every day. It all depends on how you are with relationships and people in general.

[dramonmaster]

Like most relationships. moderation is key. Once it goes t the extreme though, that's when things get dangerous.

[thomasr.jackson]

Another good video on an important topic. One thing not covered, but hinted at, is these parasocial relationships are often cultivated by the celebrity, or the celebrity organization, for commercial or political purposes. That can make them manipulative and exploitative. It would be worth exploring in another video.

[rikrikonius]

Will Smith went to Antarctica? I guess refrigeration is a good way to keep a prince fresh.

[juliana.xx]

Ok I absolutely have a parasocial relationship with Boze (vs. the World) and for me it really helps me feel heard in a world where I find it hard to stand up for myself, and she is inspiring with all of the insight she has and the ability to read people that are trying to manipulate others.

I really resonate with her experiences with adversity in childhood, so to see someone with so much in common with me as she does, and using the tools she learned from that journey to become successful and probably feel very validated, especially within her community that she has created, is just really a beautiful journey that fills me with hope❤

[alberttran]

I never heard about Parasocial or Stan Culture before Above the Noise planned this topic.

In my opinion, it is better to focus on face-to-face friendship because it shows having real friends can lead to better wellbeing. Parasocial relationships can contain fake friends because these do not have real interaction.

It is nice to see celebrities do incredible things, but we should not be in the cult by worshiping them. They are human being just like us.

[neb_grange]

Video summary for those on a time crunch:

Parasocial relationship with people of a certain minority group can decrease prejudice towards that group.

In adolecense, they help with developing autonomy and identity formation.

But they can contribute to anxienty lonliness, and social isolation, and can be linked social media addiction. While they may motivate you to change somthing about yourself, they can also set unrealistic expectations or comparisons to you or your romantic partners, if you compare them to celebrities.

I can also make you see them as a role model. So if your favorite celebrity does something good, you are more likley to do that, but the same applies for negative actions.

[modusbee]

Cool channel. Love learning about new things that might be wrong with me. I am happy to say I out-grew all my parasocial relationships.

[moonfish]

I was always told that this kind of relationship was bad, and the fact that I can a crush on celebrity or fictional character scared my parents a lot. Long story short, this very kind of relationship actually helped me through very tough time in my life and still is nothing but absolutely positive experience. But I've also seen a bad examples of it, so I guess it depends on exact person and situation.

[SioxerNikita]

I think there is a BIG problem with parasocial relationships in general.

The big problem comes in that the person in question is likely a "persona" and you can start having VERY negative emotions when that persona is shown to be false. Feelings of betrayal, hate, etc. It also has the issue that a person with a parasocial relationship is FAR easier to manipulate than one that doesn't, and you can see a LOT of YouTubers and Streamers refer to their fans as [Word], like "The Skelly Army" or what ever. This is rather manipulative and it also fosters more trust, and willingness to donate.

You also have the issue that it can feed into (luckily very small minority) delusions, and create very dangerous circumstances as you implied.

Overall, I think anyone who felt that the parasocial relationship helped them through hard times, would have been helped far more by reflecting, thinking, and having actual friends, acquaintances and so on, to talk to. Even a stranger at a bar. A one-way with a large power disparity relationship is not going to be particularly healthy in the long run.

[rk____rgk]

I don’t like the parasocial relationship I have, because I already am unhappy with the relationships I have in my life. I’ve just wanted love, but I’m not interested in those around me.

[frostytipsasmr]

this this is a really interesting introspective topic, I definitely had many of these when I was much younger.

[melissanicole]

I didn’t really until my son pointed out to me with Ren, which at that point I think also did with Trent Reznor.

So while there are movie star I sometimes think are cute or whatever. I have a stronger draw to musicians because you can listen to them constantly

[GymGirl]

I feel like my parasocial relationships have been relatively short lived, only a few years.

[juliegolick]

And then you've got parasocial relationships with fictional characters, who are literally not real, but somehow still my best friend lol.

[luisabolado]

omg not dodie being in this video lol (with whom i also have had a slight parasocial relationship + her being one of the few or only celebrities/famous people who acknowledge parasocial relationships)

[starryJulyNIghtSky]

I do, its kinda indifferent to myself, never tending to get in the way, but still a Parasocial Relationship overall.