A one-sided bond in which a media audience member feels a sense of intimacy and reciprocity with a television host, actor or other on-screen persona who has no actual knowledge of them. Anthropologist Donald Horton and sociologist Richard Wohl coined the term in 1956, arguing that broadcasting had created a new kind of relationship that mimicked face-to-face friendship without ever being one.
Facts
Concept Domain Formulated Year Domain
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Wikipedia
Lead paragraph, first sentence
Parasocial interaction (PSI) refers to a kind of psychological relationship experienced by an audience in their mediated encounters with performers in mass media.
Opening section
an illusory experience, such that media audiences interact with personas...as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them
View the Source2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationFocus on Relationships sectionQuote, Focus on Relationships section
television personas offer the media user a sense of intimacy and have influence over them by using their appearance and gesture
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