UC Davis

The three studies included in this investigation examine the relationship between family communication, parasocial relating, and identity salience. The family unit is one of the primary socializing forces for interpersonal relationships and its impact can be seen in the relationships we form with media characters, known as parasocial relationships. The studies here seek to examine how family communication, conceptualized as high conversation orientation and high conformity orientation, shape our parasocial relationships through our perceived similarity with a parasocial character. Study 1 examined the relationship between a respondent’s sense-of-self or identity and the perceived identity of a media figure. Findings suggested that respondents describe themselves and parasocial figures using terms that indicated the same dimension of identity as posited by the Communication Theory of Identity (personal, enacted, relational, communal). Studies 1 and 2 also created and tested a measure of parasocial relating and identity salience. The measure consisted of four subscales examining perceived similarity on identity dimensions and Study 2 examined relationships between this measure and conversation/conformity orientation. Results found a significant positive relationship between conformity orientation and perceived similarity on relational aspects of identity, suggesting that for those respondents from families that emphasize interdependence and family functioning, respondents are more likely to also view parasocial figures as similar in relational interpersonal aspects. Finally, Study 3 examined how family communication might shape perceived identity similarity for a new and ambiguously-described media figure. Results are mixed but suggest that in some circumstances being from a conformity oriented family is related to perceived similarity with a new media figure on several dimensions of identity.