Do Parasocial Relationships Have a Time Cap?

Last week in class we talked about parasocial relationships and the effect they have on adolescent girls. I have to admit, growing up I had THE BIGGEST crush on Nick Jonas, especially after watching the movie Camp Rock. I mean, isn't he adorable? 

Luckily I grew out of that fantastical love by the time I reached high school, but a lot of people still keep their parasocial celebrity crushes for a while. Younger girls tend to think of their celebrity crush as “sweet and sensitive” rather than “sexy and good looking,” which is the preferred way of thinking for older individuals (Karinol, 2001). My question is: do parasocial relationships continue to exist as preteens become teens, and as teens become adults? I thought it was interesting Karinol studied mainly adolescent girls, but parasocial relationships can exist for people of all ages. Take my mom for example; she is in love with George Clooney. Don’t ask me why; I do not find him attractive at all – a bit too old for my liking. She, however, has seen every single one of his movies and talks about him like they’re dating sometimes.

From both pictures, we can see the men have feminine features. Their eyes sparkle, they’re both tanned, and they look light-hearted and sweet. Being a twenty-two year old woman, I am more likely to say that they both look sexy rather than cute, but I can see where the feminine features come into play for younger girls.

Looking at Karinol’s article, “Adolescent Females’ Idolization of Male Media Stars as a Transition Into Sexuality,” which studied “feminine media stars who are idolized by adolescent girls provide a “safe” target of romantic love in the period of time before girls start dating and become sexually active” (Karinol, 2001). What happens, however, when these adolescent girls begin dating and become adults?

Karinol hypothesizes that “the idolization of feminine stars precedes relations with boys and serves to provide not only a convenient, but a safe love object” (Karinol, 2001). I have to push back and say that it does not only precede relations with boys, but rather, parasocial relationships with these boys/men still exist after actual relationships have been explored. For adults, many have had experience with dating or marriage. The parasocial relationship, no matter what age or stage of life, still provides that convenient and safe love object for the individual, even after dating and sexual encounters with men have been experienced.

In my opinion, parasocial relationships can exist no matter what an individual’s age. However, carrying on strong parasocial relationships after adolescence can result in some serious health risks, mostly psychologically, and should be kept in check.

Reference:

Karinol, R. (2001) Adolescent Females’ Idolization of Male Media Stars as a Transition into Sexuality. Plenum Publishing Corporation. Vol. 44