UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 Parasocial relationships with celebrities: An illusion of intimacy with mediated friends Amanda R. Laken University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Repository Citation Laken, Amanda R., "Parasocial relationships with celebrities: An illusion of intimacy with mediated friends" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 962. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2307944 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). 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PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH CELEBRITIES: AN ILLUSION OF INTIMACY WITH MEDIATED FRIENDS by Amanda Laken Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2006 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Masters of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies Hank Greenspun School of Communication Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 UMI Number: 1472424 Copyright 2009 by Laken, Amanda INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform 1472424 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 2, .20 09 The Thesis prepared by Amanda R. Laken Entitled Parasocial Relationships With Celebrities: An Illusion of Intimacy With Mediated Friends is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of ARts in Journalism and Media Studies Dean of the Graduate College Examination Committee Member Exammection Committee Member Graduate College Faculty Representative 1017-53 11 ABSTRACT Parasocial Relationships with Celebrities: An Illusion of Intimacy With Mediated Friends by Amanda R. Laken Dr. Anthony Ferri, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Journalism and Mass Media University of Nevada, Las Vegas This research looked at parasocial interactions among college students. The study looked at the differences in gender and parasocial interaction, ethnicity/race and parasocial interaction, and the type of entertainment the celebrity was in and parasocial interaction. The research looked at celebrities as themselves and not as the characters they play as previous studies have. The research consisted of a revised parasocial interaction scale along with basic demographic questions. Although there have been studies examining levels of worship among different celebrities, they have been no correlations or differences stated concerning parasocial interactions. In addition, there has been no previous research stating the differences among ethnic/racial groups and parasocial interactions. Research on gender differences has yielded inconclusive results. This study found the difference in gender and parasocial interaction to be significant. However, ethnicity/race and the type of entertainment the celebrity was in were not significant in relation to parasocial interaction. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I want to thank my family, especially my parents for their love, motivation and support. I could not have achieved this goal without it. I would like to thank my advisor and committee members for all of their advice and expertise. Dr. Ferri, for always being available to help when I was not sure how to proceed. Dr. Larson, for all of the advice on thesis topics as well as being a mentor for teaching. Dr. Borchard, for pushing me to be a better writer. Dr. Dickens, for all of the recommendations on research material. Without the support of each of you, this goal would not have been accomplished. I would also like to extend thanks to the faculty and staff of the Journalism and Media Studies department for their help and support. I would also like to thank the Graduate College and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for allowing me to conduct my research. Achieving this goal would not be possible without the opportunity and support from faculty and staff members. Last, thanks to my close friends for their motivation and continued interest in my research. Thanks also to Michael Sears for his assistance in distributing the survey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose of Study 3 Research Questions 4 Significance 5 Parasocial Interaction 6 Celebrity 9 Summary 12 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 13 Summary 29 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 31 Scale Selection 32 Research Questions 33 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS 34 Scale Distribution 34 Demographics 35 Findings 35 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION 39 Further Research 43 Limitations 44 Conclusion: How Celebrity May Affect American Culture 44 APPENDIX I Summary of Scales in Literature Review 49 APPENDIX II Original and Edited Parasocial Interaction Scales 51 APPENDIX III Survey Used in Research 53 APPENDIX rv Individual Means and Standard Deviations for Parasocial Interaction Scale Items 56 APPENDIX V Complete List of Chosen Celebrities 57 v APPENDIX VI Internal Review Board Approval Form 65 REFERENCES 69 VITA 73 VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION There have always been famous people in the world and, "It has often been said that movie stars are the royalty of America," (Gabler, 1998, p. 174). However, it seems that in the 21st century, people are more curious and captivated by celebrities. Schopenhauer (1851) wrote, "Riches, one may say, are like sea water: the more you drink, the thirstier you become; and the same is true of fame," (p. 3 7). Celebrity will be discussed later, but it is important to look at the increase in interest. Celebrity coverage doubled from 1980 to 2003 (McCafferty, 2005). The Project for Excellence in Journalism assessed 3,760 reports on nightly news programs and found that celebrity journalism, combined with human-interest stories and scandals, saw an increase of 27.6 % from the year 1977 to 1997 (cited in Peterson, 1998). In addition, "Time and Newsweek were seven times as likely to having the same cover story as People magazine" in 1997 compared to 1977 (Peterson, D8). One reason for this change was due to news media attempts at making news more relevant (Peterson). According to the Fas-Fax report released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, celebrity magazines saw an increase in circulation in the first six months of 2004 (cited in Fine, 2004, p. 30). US Weekly's newsstand sales increased by 47.3 %, In Touch's sales rose 73.6 % and People magazine sales rose 3.3 % during the same time period (Fine). These three magazines deal primarily with celebrity news stories. In addition to celebrity 1 magazines reporting an increase in sales, other magazines saw an increase in the coverage of celebrities. Celebrities appeared on almost half of all American magazine covers during 2004 (McCafferty, 2005). Newsstand sales alone on magazines such as People, Star, Us Weekly, In Touch Weekly and Life & Style equal $25 million a week, totaling more then $1.3 billion a year. The television show Entertainment Tonight averages about 7 million viewers a day. That number increases to more then 100 million viewers a week when The Insider, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood and Extra! are all combined (Tapper and Morris, 2005). During the first six months of 2007 compared to the first six months of 2006, Time magazine saw a 17 % decline, dropping from 4.1 million to 3.4 million in circulation. However, the celebrity magazine, OK!, saw a 54 % increase, selling more then 809,000 copies an issue. US Weekly also saw an increase (Perez-Pena, 2007). According to "State of the News Media 2006," a report released by Journalism.org (2006), People magazine had an average circulation of 3.5 million in 1999. That same report stated that in 2004, People's average circulation was 3.7 million. The Pew Research Center (2007) explored which news stories Americans were most interested in. The survey found Paris Hilton's brief but memorable stint in jail became a national news story earlier this summer. During the first week in June, when she was briefly released from jail and then sent back, 4% of the national news was devoted to the story and 12% of the American public said the Hilton saga was the story they were following more closely than any other. (Summary of Findings, para. 5) 2 Another story the survey examined was the death of Anna Nicole. "During the two days immediately following [Anna Nicole] Smith's death, nearly a quarter of the news from all sectors (24%) was devoted to this story" (The Pew Research Center, 2007, Summary of Findings, para. 5). With these increases in magazine circulation and celebrity television shows, it is important to understand the audiences' relationship with celebrities.