Connections Between Adolescents’ Parasocial Interactions and Recollections of Childhood Imaginative Activities

Abstract

Parasocial interactions (PSIs; one-sided communication imagined with a media figure) in adolescence and imaginative activities in childhood, such as imaginary companions and role play, have a shared foundation in that both use imagination for social purposes. This commonality in both cognitive processes and social uses begs the question of whether they are related phenomena. We examined PSI’s connection to retrospective reports of childhood imaginative activities in the context of the social environment, including relationship functioning (attachment style and social support) and well-being (self-esteem and depressive symptoms), in 151 adolescents ( Mage = 14.8 years). PSI and reports of childhood imagination were unrelated to each other and differentially related to the social environment, suggesting that each form of social imagination relates to the developmental task it addresses rather than to individual differences in predilection for fantasy or social functioning.

Love Is Blind! Exploring the Impact of Brand Love on eWOM in Chinese Hospitality Industry

“…In addition, SNS extends eWOM influence on consumers deciding on hotel brands. SNS provides the opportunity to acquire other consumers' hotel experiences (Su et al, 2015 ; Gleason et al, 2019 ).…”

Dancing on My Own: Parasocial Love, Romantic Loneliness, and Imagined Interaction

“…Among these functions, the relationship maintenance function may suggest potential PSR between sport team fans and their favorite teams’ players/coaches (Keaton et al, 2014). Gleason et al (2020) examined the relationships between adolescents’ PSR with their liked same-sex celebrities and their recollection of II with imaginary friends in childhood. The researchers found that they were unrelated to each other and related to social environment differently.…”

“…We propose that the investigation into the concept of imagined interaction (II) can contribute to unraveling how PSR is kept active and progressive when audiences are not using media. Although PSR and II have the shared foundation of using imagination for social purposes (Gleason et al, 2020), the majority of the II studies focus on II's role in intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship (Bodie et al, 2013).…”