Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships that people hold with media figures. Although it has been previously demonstrated that people often feel strong friendships with people that they have never met, parasocial romantic attachments have not been well-studied. In the current study, we examined reasons why people form parasocial romances from a social exchange perspective by surveying participants on perceived costs and benefits of both real-life and parasocial romantic relationships (PSROMs), and on the strength of their PSROMs. We found that participants who reported stronger PSROMs also reported greater perceived benefits (relative to costs) of PSROMs, and that these benefits are surprisingly similar to those received from real-life relationships (RLRs). The results suggest that parasocial relationships are formed for similar reasons as real-life relationships, but that there are some unique costs associated with PSROMs. This research helps to explain why people form romantic attachments with media characters.

In two studies, we assessed the effectiveness of a classroom activity designed to increase students' ability to think critically. This activity involved watching and discussing an infomercial that contained pseudoscientific claims, thus incorporating course material on good research design and critical thinking. In Study 1, we used a pretest-posttest design. After the activity, students were significantly more likely to correctly identify flaws in a series of claims. In Study 2, we compared the effectiveness of this activity to a traditional lecture. Participation in the activity was more effective at increasing students' ability to critically evaluate claims than the lecture. These results suggest that short-term interventions to increase critical thinking can be successful and can be made interesting for students.

Previous research indicates that extradyadic sexual behaviors and other behaviors including emotional infidelity, pornography use, and online infidelity are considered to be acts of betrayal. However, perceptions of infidelity occurring through social media and of romantic parasocial relationships (one-sided romantic attachments formed with media figures) have not been well researched. In two exploratory studies, I examined a) the extent to which participants rated parasocial, sexual, emotional, and social media behaviors as infidelity, and b) how hurtful these behaviors would be if a partner were to enact them. I also examined how often participants reported having been negatively affected by their partner’s parasocial romances. Results indicate that activities such as sexting and sexy Snapchatting are perceived similarly to both cybersex and physical sexual infidelity, and that parasocial infidelity is seen similarly to pornography use. These similarities apply to whether the acts are seen as infidelity, and in terms of the emotional pain the acts may cause. These results indicate that extradyadic social media and parasocial behaviors can be negatively perceived, and may be likely to negatively affect real-life romantic relationships.

Although some aspects of physical attractiveness are specific to time and culture, other characteristics act as external cues to youth, health, and fertility. Like head hair, eyelashes change with age, and as such, they may also serve as external mating cues. In three experiments, I manipulated eyelash length in photographs of men and women and had participants rate them on attractiveness (Studies 1-3), perceived age (Studies 1-3), perceived health (Studies 2 and 3), and femininity (Study 3). The results indicate that women, but not men, are seen as more attractive with longer eyelashes; that perceptions of health and femininity also increase with eyelash length; and that older women, rather than younger women, benefit the most from enhanced eyelashes-but that longer eyelashes did not reduce perceptions of age. Public Significance StatementIn this research, I found that women with longer eyelashes were rated as more feminine, healthier, and more attractive than the same women with shorter eyelashes. These findings confirm that eyelashes are one physical characteristic that can influence social interaction.

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