Going Too Far: Parasocial Relationships

The Office is the newest edition to my all time favorite shows list. The combination of the wacky characters, impossible plot lines, and the brilliance of Steve Carell just has a way of making me laugh every time. However, Neha's recent post about the "Gay Witch Hunt" episode really got me thinking about the possibility of parasocial relationships or connections going too far. Neha argued that the insensitivity presented in this particular episode of the show does nothing to alleviate the pressure of young gays or lesbians that look to the media to help form their identity through the coming out process. This is where I'll start.

Michael Scott is quite the character. Played by funny man Steve Carell, the character's happy go lucky nature and pitiful ignorance makes Michael Scott the lovable boss of Dunder Mifflin Scranton. Watching the insanity surrounding the Scranton office as a junior in college, I am fully aware that everything is meant to be an over-the-top joke. But what happens when younger demographics catch reruns or begin watching it on Netflix. What happens when the sarcasm surrounding Michael and his office doesn't resonate with those younger viewers. Michael makes for a safe friend in the media given his juvenile way of managing his office and his antics that remind me of an elementary school student. Yet even outside of a romantic connection with his character, maintaining a parasocial friendship with Michael when the comedy doesn't quite carry could have detrimental effects.

In their article about girls' parasocial interactions with media figures, Theran, Newberg, and Gleason (2010) found that preoccupied attachment style was a significant predictor of both involvement in parasocial relationships and the emotional intensity of them. This attachment style describes adolescents who view themselves negatively while idealizing others and are quick to trust and cling to others, all of these qualities making interactions with a media figure safe and comfortable knowing that they will never be rejected (p. 75). For these types of adolescents, girls and boys alike, this research seems to confirm that they will latch on to parasocial relationships with more intensity as they are a comfortable way to find a friend without the fear of rejection. In the case of characters like Michael Scott, he speaks directly to the camera seeming to speak directly to the audience and he is in every episode. For an adolescent with a preoccupied attachment style, Michael Scott's ridiculous humor might seem inviting.

Michael Scott's ways of talking and joking then might become ways of talking and joking that young fans employ to become lovable like him. Theran, Newberg, and Gleason (2010) agree that these type of relationships are usually helpful transitions from child to adult-like relationships. However, Neha's example of the Gay Witch Hunt kind of humor seems to point in another direction. Gay hate and insensitivity, no matter the intended light-heartedness of Michael's ignorance, might be the scripts that preoccupied attachment style adolescents adhere to as a way of maintaining their parasocial relationship with Michael Scott.

And Michael Scott is not alone. Where are the boundaries on parasocial interactions? What about young adolescent girls that have crushes on pretty boys like John Mayer or big musicians like Chris Brown and Robin Thicke? Does a crush on one of these figures lead to adolescents buying into the ideas presented in their songs or their actions in real life. John Mayer has dated too many people to count and Chris Brown and Robin Thicke sing about women as objects and their sexual exploits. Anne Bader (2007) reports that "many adolescents either did not know or did not understand the lyrics to popular songs" and that the music was often more important than the lyrics. So, just like the case of Michael Scott when the humor is not understood but stands to be repeated, are the ideas in these lyrics not understood but stand to be repeated?

If the media is in fact a super peer for adolescents and young children (Brown, Halpern, & L'Engle, 2005, p. 420) then we can assume that these media figures are more than just crushes or friends in the media. They are educators. For young viewers and listeners that don't get the humor or don't understand the lyrics, why can't we then assume that parasocial relationships leave ample room for the things they watch and listen to from their favorite media figures to be repeated no matter how inappropriate. For a young boy or girl that laughs as Michael Scott, what stands between them reacting to a situation with a gay classmate like Michael did with Oscar. And for a young girl with a crush on Robin Thicke or Chris Brown, what stands to prevent her from understanding that she is only a sexual object.

I think we can argue that parasocial relationships might offer comfort for adolescents and teens exploring their identities. But the boundaries of what a healthy parasocial relationship looks like seem shaky? When exactly does a parasocial relationship go too far?



References:
Bader, A. (2007). "Love will steer the stars" and other improbable feats: Media myths in popular love songs. In M.-L. Galician & D. L. Merskin (Eds.), Critical thinking about sex, love, and romance in the max media (pp. 141-160). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Eribaum.

Brown, J. D., Halpern, C. T., & L'Engle, K. L. (2005). Mass media as a sexual super peer for early maturing girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36(5), 420-427. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.06.003

Theran, S., Newberg, E., & Gleason, T. (2010). Adolescent girls' parasocial interactions with media figures. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 171(3), 270-277.