Do you consider LeBron James or Meredith Grey to be your friends? If you feel connections with characters or media personalities like them, you may have parasocial relationships. These friendships, although are one-sided, can provide us with benefits similar to, but not as intense and important as our primary interpersonal relationships. Join Alysa as she explores our connections to such folks, and how these parasocial friendships can help us and, potentially, hurt us. 

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Sources

https://www.findapsychologist.org/parasocial-relationships-the-nature-of-celebrity-fascinations/ 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-our-make-believe-relationships-with-celebrities-shape-our-social-lives

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15213269.2017.1416295

https://www.thoughtco.com/parasocial-relationships-4174479

https://curiosity.com/topics/tv-characters-might-be-fictional-but-your-relationship-with-them-isnt-curiosity/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265407504041374

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/17/17832948/youtube-youtubers-influencer-creator-fans-subscribers-friends-celebrities

https://www.thedailybeast.com/your-parasocial-obsession-with-the-royals-is-perfectly-normal

Cohen, J. (2003). Parasocial breakups: Measuring individual differences in responses to the dissolution of parasocial relationships. Mass Communication & Society, 6(2), 191-202.

Eyal, K., & Dailey, R. M. (2012). Examining relational maintenance in parasocial relationships. Mass Communication and Society, 15,758-781.

Horton, D., & Wohl, R. R. (1956). Mass communication and parasocial interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry, 19,215-219.

Rubin, A. M., & Rubin, R. B. (1985). Interface of personal and mediated communication: A research agenda. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 2,36-53.