Parasocial comparison: the analysis of a new social comparison target when looking at body satisfaction
Date
2010
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to expand upon prior research that explores how media images contribute to body dissatisfaction. This study was grounded in the theory of social comparison which purports that individuals have an innate drive to compare themselves with others. This study focuses specifically on social comparison in relation to body image and body satisfaction. Previous research in this area holds that engaging in social comparison with either friends or media images helps to perpetuate body dissatisfaction. Until now, research explored social comparison only when it occurs between friends or between an individual and a celebrity. This study proposes to expand the domain of this research and test if a parasocial relationship with a thin model/celebrity affects social comparison and resulting body image effects. The hypotheses within this study proposed that engaging in social comparison with a celebrity with whom there existed a parasocial relationship would result in lower levels of body satisfaction. In all, 300 undergraduate female Caucasian students participated in this study during which they were asked questions that pertained to demographics, self-esteem, body satisfaction, and television use. The 205 participants within the experimental group were asked additional questions in regard to parasocial interactions and social comparison. Results from this study showed that individuals experienced lower levels of body satisfaction following social comparison with a thin celebrity. The findings also indicated that engaging in a parasocial relationship increases one’s likelihood to socially compare. Finally, this study suggested that women who engage in parasocial relationships experienced lower levels of body satisfaction than their counterparts who did not engage in parasocial relationships. However, this study did not find that women who viewed photos of a thin celebrity experienced lower levels of body satisfaction than the women who only viewed a landscape photo. The results of this study support previous social comparison research that people who engage in upward image/body-centric social comparison will experience feelings of inferiority or body dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that much more research should be conducted to better understand the effects of parasocial relationships specifically within the area of body satisfaction. Future research should look at parasocial relationships from a perspective similar to approaches used in the study of interpersonal relationships.