Award Date

5-2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies

Department

Communication

First Committee Member

Anthony Ferri, Chair

Second Committee Member

Gary Larson

Third Committee Member

Gregory Borchard

Graduate Faculty Representative

David Dickens

Number of Pages

80

Abstract

This research looked at parasocial interactions among college students. The study looked at the differences in gender and parasocial interaction, ethnicity/race and parasocial interaction, and the type of entertainment the celebrity was in and parasocial interaction. The research looked at celebrities as themselves and not as the characters they play as previous studies have. The research consisted of a revised parasocial interaction scale along with basic demographic questions. Although there have been studies examining levels of worship among different celebrities, they have been no correlations or differences stated concerning parasocial interactions. In addition, there has been no previous research stating the differences among ethnic/racial groups and parasocial interactions. Research on gender differences has yielded inconclusive results. This study found the difference in gender and parasocial interaction to be significant. However, ethnicity/race and the type of entertainment the celebrity was in were not significant in relation to parasocial interaction.

Keywords

Fame; Interpersonal relations; Mass media--Audiences; Sex differences (Psychology)--Social aspects

Disciplines

Broadcast and Video Studies | Critical and Cultural Studies | Journalism Studies | Mass Communication | Social Psychology and Interaction | Sociology of Culture

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Comments

Signatures have been redacted for privacy and security measures.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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