Functional and Methodological Problems of Parasocial Communication

P. Miroshnychenko, K. Syvash

Abstract


Research Methodology. In the course of the study, the authors used the systematic approach (considering paracommunication, media persons and spectators as a system), the method of systematization of interdisciplinary scientific data (communicative, media psychology, sociology, journalism – to determine the state of scientific study of the topic and its little-studied aspects), generalization (in assessing the methodological problems of PSI in the Ukrainian scientific field), terminological analysis (in explaining the phenomenon of parasocial communication and the terms PSI, PSC, PSI-scale, etc.).

Results. The article describes the paracotional interaction as a special emotional connection between the media person and the viewer. The research presents and solves the functional and methodological problems of this phenomenon. The authors described the differences in para-social interaction and communication, consider the interaction through the prism of uses and gratifications theory, describe the predictors of parasocial relations and determine the place of the media persona in a paracommunication. The method of parasocial scale is also explored, its advantages and disadvantages are described..

Novelty. The presented work, one of the first in Ukrainian communication science, not only considers parasocial communication as a phenomenon, but also describes the problems of its theoretical reflection. Also, for the first time a special method for assessing the interaction between the viewer and the media person – parasocial scale – was described.

The practical significance. The results of the study can be used in the further study of parasocial communication. The proposed definitions supplement the existing social and communication vocabulary and will be useful to researchers in the areas of journalism, social communications, media psychology and sociology.

Key words: parasocial communication, involvement, interaction, media effect, methodology, method, parasocial scale.


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