Parasocial Breakup Among Young Children in the United States

Abstract

A survey of parents of children 2 to 8 years old was conducted to investigate parasocial relationships (PSR) and experiences with parasocial breakup among young children. Results indicated that boys were significantly more likely to have a female favorite character at a younger age than at their current age, but girls were no more likely to have a male favorite character at a younger age than at their current age. As children aged and transitioned to new favorite media characters, boys' favorite characters became more masculine and girls' favorite characters became more feminine. Child maturation, the influence of other media characters, and habituation to the character were the most commonly cited reasons for children experiencing parasocial breakup. Findings are discussed in terms of the similarities between face-to-face friendship dissolution and parasocial breakup among children and the importance of character gender to children's PSR, especially as children mature.

Keywords::

• parasocial relationship
• parasocial breakup
• young children
• survey
• gender

Acknowledgements

We thank the parents who participated in this research and our undergraduate research assistants Elizabeth Seaman and Jennifer Torres Ortega for their coding work of this project.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation [grant number 0126014], [grant number 1252113]. We are grateful for their financial support.

Notes on contributors

Bradley J. Bond

Bradley J. Bond, Ph.D. (author to whom correspondence should be addressed) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of San Diego. He studies media effects on child and adolescent health and identity development. E-mail: [email protected]

Sandra L. Calvert

Sandra L. Calvert, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University and the Director of the Children's Digital Media Center, a multi-site center funded primarily by the National Science Foundation. Her current research focuses on media, early development, and children's health. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the International Communication Association. E-mail: [email protected]