Ph.D. Dissertation: Para-social attachments: Motivational antecedents

by Gayle S. Stever, January 1994

Arizona State University, 1994. Includes bibliographical references

Link to PDF of Dissertation

ABSTRACT

This study involved soliciting documents from a sample of media fans who were involved in parasocial attachments to various celebrities. Each document was then coded by 2-8 coders according to whether or not it showed evidence of nine different types of secondary attachment: task attraction, romantic attachment, two types of identificatory attachment, filial attachment, co-worker attachment, hero worship, infantile attachment, and parental attachment. Fans were also coded for intensity of involvement. The principal finding was that males and females are equally likely to develop romantic and identificatory attachments but appear to do so at different ages, which females showing more romantic attachment in their teens and identification in their 20s, while males show more identification in their teens and romantic attachment in their 20s. Task Attraction and hero worship were the most frequently appearing categories.