People who invent fake boyfriends and girlfriends shouldn't be considered crazy or desperate. According to a new study, they are building up their self-esteem with their imaginary partners.
The relationships, called parasocial relationships, form when one person creates a one-sided relationship, usually with a famous person with qualities they admire and wish to imitate, according to Shira Gabriel, associate professor in the Department of Psychology. Parasocial relationships can mean a major boost in self-esteem for the person creating them.
"[Parasocial relationships] exist mostly in the mind," she said.
Gabriel said that research on parasocial relationships began after observing the public's preoccupation with celebrities and professional athletes, with people turning to everything from talk shows to tabloids for the latest celebrity news and gossip. Thousands traveled across the country to be present at Michael Jackson's 2005 trial for alleged child molestation, she noted.
"It's a very interesting area that hasn't been studied much by social psychologists," Gabriel said. "[A person] can find a celebrity they think is smart, pretty or nice and form a bond with them in their mind," Gabriel said.
In turn, a person can use that one-sided bond to see their favorite celebrity's positive qualities reflected within them.
"Low self-esteem people are able to use the relationship with the celebrity as a means of feeling better about themselves," Gabriel said.
Gabriel's article, "Parasocial relationships and self-discrepancies: Faux relationships have benefits for low self-esteem individuals," was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Personal Relationships.
Three studies were conducted between 2001 and 2006. University students who wanted to participate in the study were evaluated for their level of celebrity interest.
"They indicated in mass testing that they had celebrities they were interested in or admired," Gabriel said.
Participants were then asked to write open-ended essays describing their favorite same-sex celebrity.
The participants' own self-esteem was measured using both the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and The Inclusion of the Other in Self Scale, which is used to compare a person's sense of their existing traits to the traits they would like to have.
"[The scale compares] who you are and who you want to be, and how similar these are," Gabriel said.
Participants who began the essay with low self-esteem felt better about themselves and their ability to take on positive characteristics after writing about their favorite famous person.
According to Gabriel, this did not have the same effect on people who already had high self-esteem.
"They did have a celebrity they identified with, but didn't have the same benefits," Gabriel said. "They didn't need the celebrity to give themselves a boost."
Those with low self-esteem witness a celebrity in the media or in entertainment over a period of time and begin to feel a sense of closeness to that person. They begin to feel as if they know or understand the celebrity, according to Gabriel's article.
Gabriel explained that while forming this type of one-sided relationship may have short-term benefits due to the low risk of feeling rejected, it is not a long-term solution and it is better to form real relationships with others.
The study, however, provides more insight into the obsessive and relentless public fascination with celebrities.
"It helps us to understand why people are so obsessed with celebrities," Gabriel said. "It gives us one idea of what celebrities can do."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
