Investigating the Relationships Among Child's Age, Parasocial Interactions, and the Social Realism of Favorite Television Characters

Abstract

This study examined the relationships among children's age, parasocial interaction, and the social realism of children's self-reported favorite television characters. Children (N = 183) aged 5–12 were surveyed to determine their favorite television character and the strength of the parasocial interaction with that character. Television characters were independently coded for social realism. Results revealed that older children tended to report favorite characters that were more socially realistic, age related negatively to parasocial interaction, and social realism was positively associated with parasocial interaction. Implications for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• Children
• Parasocial Interaction
• Social Realism
• Television

Notes

Rosengren and Windahl (1972) term the four possible media responses in typology as follows: detachment (low identification-low interaction), solitary identification (high identification-low interaction), parasocial interaction (low identification-high interaction), and capture (high identification-high interaction).

It was fairly easy for coders to determine whether or not a character appeared real. The lower reliability for behavior was mainly due to a lack of familiarity with the characters and the shows on which they appear, rather than any special difficulty in determining the social realism of a character's behavior.

The five new parasocial interaction items are as follows:

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah F. Rosaen

Sarah F. Rosaen (PhD, Michigan State University, 2006), is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Visual Art at the Universty of Michigan-Flint.

Jayson L. Dibble

Jayson L. Dibble (MA, Western Michigan University, 2003) is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.