A Quantitative Research on Video Streaming Series and Audiences`Forms of Parasocial Interaction

Authors : Türker Söğütlüler

Pages : 1-27

Doi:10.17680/erciyesiletisim.1528846

View : 156 | Download : 99

Publication Date : 2025-01-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The concept of parasocial interaction describes viewers\\\' one-sided bonds with media figures. Since 1956, it has been extensively studied in psychology, sociology, communication sciences, and especially psychiatry. This study was carried out to examine with the aim of investigating the interaction of young individuals with the characters in video streaming series by taking into account the viewing tendencies. Four different scales including parasocial interaction (PSI), parasocial breakup (PBS), perceived attributes of the favorite character (PAFC) and perceived attributes of the least desired character (PALDC) scale were applied to male and female video streaming services users (n=381) aged 18-27; IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 software was used for statistical procedures. It was observed that the participants mostly preferred foreign video streaming series over domestic ones, had more parasocial interactions with foreign video streaming series characters, female participants scored more on all scales compared to male participants, and their viewing time was higher. It was concluded that male participants tended more to have parasocial interactions with ‘strong’ and ‘physically attractive’ characters, while female participants tended more to have parasocial interactions with ‘strong’ and ‘positive social behaviour’ characters. Male participants described the characters they disliked as ‘cunning’, ‘repulsive’ and ‘ruthless’, while female participants described them as ‘selfish’, ‘repulsive’ and ‘ruthless’. Parasocial breakups were observed when characters with whom participants had established parasocial interactions left the series. Through the data obtained, issues related to the character creation process were discussed, and it was predicted that the results would contribute positively to the competition of domestic productions with global productions.
Keywords : Parasosyal etkileşim, parasosyal ayrılık, en sevilen ve en sevilmeyen karakterler, izleyici, dijital kültür

ORIGINAL ARTICLE URL