Parasocial Relationships with Media Personae: Why They Matter and How They Differ Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents

ABSTRACT

Parasocial relationships are social bonds audiences develop with media personae. Parasocial relationships may be particularly meaningful for those who experience obstacles developing real-life social bonds. The objective of this study was to examine parasocial relationships among a relationally vulnerable population by surveying lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents (n = 106). Heterosexual adolescents (n = 321) were surveyed for comparison purposes. Results suggest that LGB adolescents have more other-gender favorite media personae than heterosexual male adolescents. LGB adolescents were more likely to select LGB media personae as their favorites, particularly if they lacked real-life LGB friends. Repeated media exposure, perceived similarity, and attraction were positively correlated with parasocial relationship strength for all adolescents, but loneliness contributed to parasocial relationship strength for LGB adolescents only. LGB adolescents were more likely to report their favorite media personae as important sources of information on a range of issues related to socialization. Though previous research suggests that parasocial relationships supplement real-life social relationships, parasocial relationships may be compensatory for LGB adolescents attempting to fill a relational void left by the absence of real-life LGB peers. Scholars must better dissect parasocial relationships with media characters when considering media’s influence on special populations like LGB adolescents.

Acknowledgments

I thank Kat Pfost and Hayley West for their assistance coding. Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/HMEP.

Notes

^1. Sexual identity response options were not defined for the participants. However, heterosexual is generally defined as an adjective used to describe people who are romantically and physically attracted to the other-sex. Gay is used to define those who are attracted to the same-sex. Lesbian is the preferred term for gay women. Bisexual is used to define those who are attracted to both same- and other-sex individuals. Queer is a label used by those who do not identify as heterosexual, but feel limited by the implications and connotations of the more frequently employed gay, lesbian, and bisexual labels.