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SURVIVING REALITY: SURVIVOR & PARASOCIAL INTERACTION

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Date Issued:
2006
Abstract/Description:
Parasocial interaction is the name that Horton & Wohl coined to describe a viewer's attachmentent toward onscreen persona that they had never physically interacted with (1956). A. Rubin, Perse, & Powell (1985) continued the research and created the Parasocial Interaction Scale. The scale has become the standard in gauging parasocial interaction in various forms of media from soap operas to newscasts. The purpose of this study was top examine parasocial interaction and see if the concept could be applied to the current television trend of reality television. Simultaneously, the study also examined parasocial interaction and its possible connections to loneliness, interpersonal functional alternatives, television viewing motives, exposure, gender, age, and spokesperson selection. The data for this study was collected on the Internet website www.Survivorthesis.com. More than 450 respondents attempted the survey, but only 444 were viable due to incomplete data, repetition, and lack of proof of age. The results of the study found that there was a link between parasocial interaction and loneliness, exposure, spokesperson selection, and television viewing motives. There was no correlation found between parasocial interaction and interpersonal functional alternatives, age, gender.
Title: SURVIVING REALITY: SURVIVOR & PARASOCIAL INTERACTION.
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Name(s): Davila-Rosado, Pedro, Author
Collins, Steven , Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2006
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Parasocial interaction is the name that Horton & Wohl coined to describe a viewer's attachmentent toward onscreen persona that they had never physically interacted with (1956). A. Rubin, Perse, & Powell (1985) continued the research and created the Parasocial Interaction Scale. The scale has become the standard in gauging parasocial interaction in various forms of media from soap operas to newscasts. The purpose of this study was top examine parasocial interaction and see if the concept could be applied to the current television trend of reality television. Simultaneously, the study also examined parasocial interaction and its possible connections to loneliness, interpersonal functional alternatives, television viewing motives, exposure, gender, age, and spokesperson selection. The data for this study was collected on the Internet website www.Survivorthesis.com. More than 450 respondents attempted the survey, but only 444 were viable due to incomplete data, repetition, and lack of proof of age. The results of the study found that there was a link between parasocial interaction and loneliness, exposure, spokesperson selection, and television viewing motives. There was no correlation found between parasocial interaction and interpersonal functional alternatives, age, gender.
Identifier: CFE0001090 (IID), ucf:46779 (fedora)
Note(s): 2006-05-01
M.A.
Arts and Sciences, Nicholson School of Communication
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): parasocial interaction
advertising spokesperson
reality television
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001090
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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