A new study sheds light on how viewers rely on their romantic beliefs to rate the infidelity committed by their favorite celebrities. Findings published in the journal The psychology of mass mediaprovides insight into the nature of the relationship between romantic beliefs and parasocial relationships.
A parasocial relationship is one in which you feel like you know someone even though you’ve never met them in real life. People often form such one-sided relationships with celebrities and other figures in the public eye. Although many studies have examined the formation of parasocial relationships, researchers have largely ignored how people’s idealized romantic beliefs influence their reactions to celebrity transgressions such as infidelity. rice field.
“Infidelity is a common transgression among celebrities, yet fan reactions are highly complex. Studies are needed to outline the patterns of these reactions and to empirically examine the underlying rationale for these reactions,” he said. said study author Mu Hu, associate professor of communications at Texas A&M University San Antonio.
For their study, the researchers surveyed a sample of 397 undergraduates from five large public universities in eastern China. Participants first completed a measure of idealized romantic beliefs. There, “I believe that to be truly in love is to be in love forever,” “I have a good chance of falling in love,” as soon as I meet the right person. Fall in love” and “There’s only one love for me.”
Participants were then asked to name their favorite celebrity. Most participants (63%) named an actor or actress. In addition, 27% were singers, 4% were athletes, 2% were TV hosts, 2% were social media influencers, 2% were comedians, 1% were academics, and he was the only film director. 79 participants viewed parasocial relationships with celebrities as intrinsically romantic, 153 participants viewed parasocial relationships with celebrities as intrinsically friendly, and 165 Participants categorized their parasocial relationships as ‘other’.
Participants then reported how they would feel if their favorite celebrity cheated on them. They showed how seriously they take guilt and estimated the likelihood of forgiving negative emotional reactions and celebrities.
Researchers found that idealized romantic beliefs were positively associated with perceived harshness. Women tended to have stronger parasocial relationships than men. Women’s reactions to celebrity infidelity were also more negative than men’s.
After controlling for parasocial relationship strength, the researchers also found significant interaction effects of gender and audience type. the following They are more troubled than friendship fans by the infidelity of their favorite celebrities. more I’m more troubled by the affair of my favorite celebrity than friendship fans
“You have to understand that it’s natural for people to have different opinions and react differently to a particular celebrity infidelity scandal,” Fu told PsyPost. “This study suggests that people’s romantic beliefs, how they view celebrities (e.g., as romantic partners, friends, or other people), and gender all influence how they handle this type of transgression It shows that it affects the way you deal with it.
“While any study has its limitations, it also points to potential directions for future research,” said Hu. “In my view, the biggest caveat of this study was that it adopted a hypothetical scenario study design, so it looked at people’s expected reactions to their favorite celebrity’s infidelity, rather than their actual reactions (the study We asked participants to rate how they would react if their favorite celebrity committed infidelity.For future directions, cross-cultural comparisons and cultural constructs were used. I believe that research on intercultural communication that incorporates
“This study is based on a sample of Chinese university students,” Hu added. “We would like to replicate this study using samples from other cultures. Thing.”
The study, Whose bed were your boots under? People’s expected reactions to celebrity romantic relationship infidelity, was written by Mu Hu, Haijiao Xu, Shuchang Liu, and Jing Cai. it was done.
