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Binge Watching- An Exploratory Study on the Facets of Parasocial Relationships with

Fictional Characters

Sneha Soji (19214062)

Department of Psychology, CHRIST (Deemed to be) University, Delhi NCR

Dr Aneesha Verma

BPSY581N: Supervised Dissertation - 1

September 4, 2021
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………….………………………………………..…… 3

Review of Literature…………………………...……………………………………….. 6

Rationale of the Study…………………………………………………………………... 9

Research Framework……………………………………………………………..……. 10

Research Objectives………………………………………………………………........ 11

Method……………………………………………………………………………..….. 11

(a) Participant Selection/ Sampling………………………………………….…11

(b) Hypothesis/Research questions………………………………………….....13

(c) Data Collection ………………………………………………………….....13

(d) Data Analysis ………………………………………………………….......14

(e) Ethical Considerations ………………………………………………....…..15

Implications of the Study…………………………………………………………........16

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….…….16

References…………………………………………………………………........……..18
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Introduction

You watch one episode. Then two. Then three. And this continues and suddenly it’s a

whole season. Before you know it, you see the sun and hear the birds chirping and it's the next

morning. That's when it hits you. You are lying on your couch surrounded by empty packets of

chips and you have just binge-watched a whole show.

With the development of technology over the years, media consumption has changed

dramatically. The ease of use, affordability and wide accessibility to just about any internet

connected device has allowed the users to watch anything, anywhere at any given point of time.

Furthermore, the media platform and content choices are greater than ever before.

Binge Watching

The definition of binge watching is not consistent. Oxford Dictionary (2013) defines

binge viewing as “to watch multiple episodes of a television program in rapid succession,

typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming”. Netflix and Harris Interactive, offer a broad

definition of binge watching as “watching between 2–6 episodes of the same TV show in one

sitting” (Netflix 2013). Schweidel and Moe, (2016) offer a somewhat broad definition of

binge-watching as the consumption of multiple episodes of a television series in a short period of

time. According to them, binge watching is characterised by two common elements, first, there is

a heavy rate of consumption, which may occur within a single session or across multiple sessions

within a short period of time. Second, viewers consume multiple episodes of the same series.

Understandably, the common element that underlies a binge-watch episode is watching more

than 2 episodes of a television series in one go. When the audience's viewers had to wait a week
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or sometimes a month or a year to find out what happens in the next episode or the season,

bingeing provides the viewer with the autonomy of choice.

The motivation for students to spend more time binge watching is to engage in

conversations with their social circles and avoid feeling ‘excluded’ or ‘left out’. They imitate the

behavior of their friends and peers and consider spending an increased amount of time binge

watching as an acceptable behavior (Panda & Pandey, 2017). Furthermore, according to a study

conducted by Sung, Y. H et al. (2018) to explore the motivations for binge watching, seven major

motivations were ruled out. They were social interaction, entertainment, passing time, relaxation,

escape, information and habit.

Binge-watching has its pros and cons for the audiences. Some studies assert that

binge-watching can be detrimental to the overall well-being of a person as it tends to be addictive

(Chaudhary, 2014). This may result in escaping reality, social detachment, fatigue and laziness

which eventually lead to conditions like depression and obesity. Other studies reveal that

binge-watching is a form of entertainment that results in gratifying the consumer’s needs and

may result in relaxation and an overall positive disposition towards life (Rubin, 2009).

Parasocial Relationships

The reason that follows a lot of binge-watching behaviour is the development of a

parasocial interaction between the audience and the fictional characters on the television series.

We often feel emotionally connected to their personality, their life, their emotions, and their past.

And eventually, with continuous screening and exposure to the media and character content, the

parasocial interaction goes on to become a stronger form of emotion, that is, parasocial

relationship.
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The study of parasocial relationships has been on a continuum for many years. The term

was originally coined by Horton and Wohl in 1956, referring to a viewer’s more enduring or

longer term social involvement with a mediated character that could extend beyond the viewing

experience. This was initially based on media figures and live action stars, but later the study of

these relationships can be extended to fictional characters and the bond that is created by the

viewer. Although these characters live in the fictional realm, real feelings often develop in a

parasocial relationship (Rosaen & Dibble, 2016). They develop a desire to be with them or

sometimes even think that they are romantically involved with them.

Erickson, Dal Cin, and Byl (2019) implied that binge-watchers tend to create stronger

parasocial relationships with their favourite characters than non-binge-watchers and that binge

watching produced stronger parasocial relationships with viewed characters than episodic

viewing. These enduring parasocial relationships develop a sense of intimacy as viewers relate

and “share” their experiences with the characters (Derrick et al., 2008). These parasocial

relationships are often a result of repeated viewing or playing of the media (e.g. watching more

than one episode or playing a game in more than one sitting) (Kokesh & Sternadori, 2015).

Parasocial relationships develop gradually over time, and the more time someone spends viewing

a character’s story and life, the more likely it is for them to feel this connection become more

intense (Hall, 2017 as cited in Gannon, 2018).

Binge-watching influences audiences’ connections with television series’ characters.

These connections are considered parasocial relationships (Gray, 2018). Individuals express

feelings towards characters in all forms of media outlets such as books, movies, television, or

radio (Cohen, 2009 as cited in Gray, 2018).

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Review of Literature

With a focus on understanding the goal and scope of the proposed research, it is

important to throw light on the various factors that make this research a significant one.

With the development of technology and the unlimited content accessible on the internet,

one of the most profound changes in television is binge watching, which is a revolution on its

own in the way television content is viewed (Verini, 2014 as cited in Pena, 2015). Researchers

are trying to highlight the fact that the arrival of binge watching cannot be ignored as a whole.

The habit of binge watching came into action after the audience started getting accustomed to

viewing content on their own timetable (Pena, 2015). Nowadays, there is no such thing as

missing a show.

In a study by Jurgensen (2012), he demonstrated the stages of how the television viewer

arrived at the stage of binge watching- the first stage was of the couch potato where only limited

content was available of the broadcast era, followed by the channel surfer stage which was a

result of incorporation of hundreds of cable channels, which has now eventually led to the

evolution of binge viewer resulting from the advancement of digital technology. The content for

binge watching is available to anyone, anywhere at any given time.

According to the findings of MarketCast (2013), it was revealed that the younger

population binge watches more often than the older population. Furthermore, the study unveiled

that the larger portion of the binge watching population were part of the “millennial” generation.

It also revealed that binge watching behaviour is gender neutral and both men and women

equally engage in such viewing behaviours.

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Constant viewing of television series and online shows result in development of an

emotional connection or a parasocial interaction with characters and if viewed repeatedly may

result in developing a parasocial relationship with the fictional characters.

Parasocial interaction is a common topic for media scholars and researchers to study. The

viewers develop this interaction and perceive it as an intimate and mutual interaction. Existing

studies have managed to find out some of the motivations behind formation of this relationship.

According to some studies, some people view it as a distraction from reality and others view it as

a source of entertainment (Young, 2016). It is a viewer’s response to media characters, also

known as personae, during media consumption (Horton & Wohl, 1956). However, a parasocial

relationship is regarded as a long-term response to these personae (Horton & Strauss, 1957 as

cited in Gray, 2018, p.4). In other words, the audience becomes more invested in the media

characters’ narratives (p.4). Despite the fact that parasocial relationships are imaginary, they

share common patterns and themes with real world relationships, can feel psychologically real,

and be perceived as personally meaningful (Cole & Leets, 1999; Derrick et al., 2008; Giles &

Maltby, 2004). Audiences and viewers engage in some kind of mediated relationship with the

characters. Individuals who develop parasocial relationships tend to believe that characters are

like their peers (Gray, 2018).

The study of parasocial relationships has been a largely favourable topic for many years.

Existing studies have revealed that research on parasocial relationships is more predominant and

plays a role in investigating the interactions of viewers' experience with media characters.

Researchers have shifted their focus from parasocial interaction to parasocial relationship to gain

a better understanding of viewers’ connections with the media they are consuming (Cohen,

2009).
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Parasocial relationship as a broad topic has been examined by researchers, but there is

limited studies done on investigating the parasocial relationship with fictional characters in

television series that are available to binge watch as binge watching is a relatively new and

modern phenomenon. In a study conducted by Erickson et al. (2019), half of the participants

were asked to watch 3 episodes of a show in a row and the other half participants viewed in the

traditional episodic condition, that is, one episode per week for three weeks of the same show.

Immediately after viewing, levels of parasocial relationship with their favorite fictional character

and narrative engagement were measured through an online questionnaire. It was observed that

participants who engaged in binge watching behavior reported a significantly stronger and an

intense parasocial relationship with their favorite fictional characters. Parasocial relationships

with television characters have been shown to provide feelings of belongingness and buffer

against feelings of loneliness and relationship threats beyond just escapism or distraction

(Derrick, Gabriel, & Hugenberg, 2008). Since, a character's whole story and life is portrayed in a

show, the audience can see and learn about them and they often feel like having a close friend

that confides in them and they have a similar life.

To conclude this section, the limited research in the binge watching and parasocial

relationship research is intriguing. Furthermore, most of the studies done in this research is using

the quantitative method and focus mainly on finding a numerical relationship or correlation

between the binge watching behavior and emotional attachment or parasocial relationship.

Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to explore and highlight the facets and experiences

of binge watching behaviour and parasocial relationships with fictional characters and to delve

deeper and reveal rich and meaningful data

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Rationale of the study

This proposed research attempts to address the gap in the existing literature and add to

the pool of existing studies in the present topic. The rationale of the current study can be ruled

out from the following reasons: (1) An in-depth research and (2) Use of non-conventional

methodology

An in-depth research focus: Binge- watching is an area of study which has not been

explored much by researchers and still remains under the rock. People often tend to have a

positive reaction or a neutral one towards the concept of binge watching, often ignoring the

negative impact it can have on an individual. One such negative consequence of binge watching

is being too emotionally involved or forming stronger parasocial relationships with the viewed

fictional characters (Erickson, Dal Cin, & Byl, 2019).

Existing research broadly focused on the motivations to binge watch or forming

parasocial relationships as a larger term, this study will concentrate on the facets of parasocial

relationships with the fictional characters. This research aims to go further by concentrating on

the factors that influence the development of parasocial relationships, its impacts and the

strategies used by people to deal with it. An attempt will also be made to find a relationship

between these terms. The purpose of this research is to lay a groundwork of knowledge from

which these data can be explored further.

Improved methodology: Existing studies mostly focused on the quantitative aspects of

parasocial relationships in binge watching. Explaining an emotional connection or the

development of a parasocial relationship with a fictional character, the reason as to why

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individuals feel that connection, the impact of the relationship in the individual's personal life

cannot merely be expressed through a quantitative method.

In the quantitative study by Panda et al. (2017), they suggested adopting multiple

methodologies to better understand the binge watch phenomena. Therefore, the present study

aims to delve deeper into the complex processes and illustrate the multifaceted nature of binge

watching and parasocial relationships with the help of a qualitative method.

Research Framework

The framework within which the proposed research will be conducted is given below:

The present research encompasses the use of qualitative methods. Qualitative research

allows the researchers to provide an in-depth exploration of behaviours, diverse prospects, and

life experiences to identify the complexities of the situation through a framework which is

holistic in nature (Holloway & Wheeler, 2002). Since this study focuses on the different

experiences and motivations of the people, a qualitative approach will help in providing an in-

depth exploration of the topic and will provide answers in rich and descriptive form.

The mode of inquiry is strongly phenomenological or naturalistic in nature. The goal of

phenomenological enquiry is to fully describe a lived experience. It emphasizes that only

experienced phenomena can be communicated to the outside world (Todres and Holloway,

2004). It therefore helps in answering questions of meaning in understanding an experience from

those who have experienced it (Mapp, 2008). The present study will benefit from this approach

since understanding the experiences of the participants, the type of relationships they form and

how it affects them, these all may be different and personal for each one of them. The aim of
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naturalistic inquiry would help to understand various perspectives of individuals for the present

research questions rather than a single perspective.

Research Objectives

The objectives of the proposed research are as follows:

1. To explore why people develop parasocial relationships with fictional characters in a

television series and how binge watching plays a role in it through the experiences of

people.

2. To study the impact and the after-effects of such relationships in the individual’s personal

life and how the individual tends to deal with it.

Method

This study seeks to explore and examine the facets of binge watching and parasocial

relationships with fictional characters through the experience of people while delving deeper into

the causes, impacts and coping strategies for the same.

Since the present study aims to explore more in this topic, a qualitative study will be

followed. A phenomenological approach will be used to delve deeper and to explore the

experiences of the participants.

Criteria for Participant Selection

The first and the foremost criteria on the basis of which the current study will recruit its

participants will be on the basis of those who qualify as agreeing to indulge in binge watching.
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They should have previously experienced a parasocial interaction or develop a parasocial

relationship with a fictional character.

In terms of age, young adults who are preferably between the ages of 18 to 24 will be

qualified for the study. According to Dvorak (2013), college students are the pioneers of binge

watching. A study conducted by Nielsen in 2013 found that 63 percent of the population that

viewed online content online does not have children, meaning the younger population watches

Netflix the most. Consumers aged 18- 29 are most likely to binge watch (Panda & Pandey,

2017).

In terms of gender, both men and women will be qualified for the study. Exploring the

perspectives of both genders will add more value to the current study. It will help the study in

exploring the similarities and differences in the experiences of both genders.

Sampling

The sample size will be confined to 10-12 participants for the interviewing process. If

enough participants from both the genders meet the criteria of binge watching, being in a

parasocial relationship and agree to participate, an equal number of male and female participants

will be employed. However, if required the size of the sample may be changed during the course

of study depending on when saturation is attained.

In this study, the type of sampling method utilized will be purposive sampling combined

with snowball sampling.

Purposeful sampling is widely used in qualitative research for the identification and

selection of information-rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest (Palinkas et al., 2015).
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The present study will largely benefit from this method of sampling as it will help in finding

participants who can provide in - depth, real and detailed information about the research topic.

The other type of sampling that will be used is Snowball sampling. It is a non-probability

method of survey sample selection that is commonly used to locate hidden populations. This

method relies on referrals from initially sampled respondents to other persons believed to have

the characteristic of interest (Balakrishnan et al., 2014).

Therefore, the present study aims to use both these methods to gather the participants.

Research Questions

The research seeks an answer to the following questions:

How is binge watching related to forming parasocial relationships with fictional characters?

Does binge watching lead to forming parasocial relationships or parasocial relationships lead to

binge watching?

What are the factors that influence the development of parasocial relationships with fictional

characters?

How does being in a parasocial relationship impact an individual’s life and what influences does

it have on them?

How do people try to deal with these emotions or what type of strategies do they use to cope

with these?

Data Collection

In the initial phase, a checklist method will be used. Checklist will be circulated among

the preferred participants. This will help in ruling out the participants who will be selected for
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the second phase, which is the interview method. The responses will allow us to select

participants who fulfill both the criteria mentioned below:

● Engaging in binge watching

● Feel like they have a developed parasocial relationship with fictional character(s)

If enough participants from both the genders meet the above criteria and agree to participate, an

equal number of male and female participants will be employed for the next phase of the study.

The second phase of the study will follow the traditional interview method. The interview

method is a one on one conversation between the researcher and the respondent to understand the

nature of the phenomenon. Dexter (1970) notes that interviewing is just like a “conversation”,

but with a specific purpose (p. 136). In the present study, open ended and loosely structured

questions that provide the participants space to unfold their experiences will work the best.

Therefore, a semi structured interview method will be applied. The semi-structured interview

involves prepared questioning governed by identified themes in a consistent and systematic

manner mediated with probes designed to elicit more elaborate responses (Qu & Dumay, 2011).

Data Analysis

The most appropriate method of qualitative data analysis technique for the current study

seems to be thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a method for analyzing qualitative data that

involves identifying, analyzing, and rule out similar patterns across a data set (Braun & Clarke,

2006).

This method of data analysis will be useful to the present study as it will help in

understanding a set of experiences, thoughts, or behaviors across the data set. Researchers also
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believe that thematic analysis is relatively simple to learn and apply and therefore is quite

accessible to less experienced researchers (Kiger & Varpio, 2020).

Ethical Considerations

Some ethical concerns that should be taken into account while carrying out qualitative

research are:

Informed consent: It is an integral part of ethics in research. It entails informing the

participant about the overall purpose, main details of the research as well as any risks or benefits

involved with it (Willig & Rogers, 2017, p.261). It also involves obtaining the voluntary

participation of the people involved and to inform them of their rights to withdraw from the

study at any given point of time (p. 261).

Confidentiality: It implies that private information identifying the participants will not be

disclosed. In a qualitative interview study, where participants' statements from a private

interview needs to be published, utmost confidentiality and anonymity should be maintained to

protect the participants' privacy (p.262). The participants should also be assured before the

commencement of the research that the private details will be kept confidential and should also

be made aware of the policies related to it. At any given point of time, the participant should

have the freedom to walk away from the study if they feel like their identity is being threatened.

Consequences: The consequences following a qualitative study should be addressed with

respect to the possible harm to the participants as well as any potential benefits. According to a

utilitarian ethical perspective, the sum of potential benefits to a participant and the value of

knowledge gained should outweigh the risk of harm to the participant (p.262).
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Implications

The theoretical implications of the present study will reveal a relationship between binge

watching and parasocial relationships and will also go on to explore what influences people to

develop the relationship, the impact it has, and how they deal with these emotions. Since this

study is using a qualitative method, rich data and descriptions will be collected.

The practical implications of the study is that it will highlight the difference between the

real and the ‘reel’ world. The findings of this study might help with providing data to mental

health professionals who provide counselling and assistance therapies especially to the younger

populations. There are benefits and risks to having this type of relationship with a fictional

character. These parasocial relationships should be a part of the therapeutic relationship because

they are parts of the client and therefore, could benefit greatly from using characters in their

treatment (Gannon, 2018, p.27). The characters and the relationships to them can also be great

metaphors for clients in the healing process (p.27). Furthermore, with the advancement of

technology, ‘modern’ problems are arising within the population such as poor body posture due

to increased screen time, using technology to escape reality and decreased social interaction, the

findings from the present study might provide a broader understanding and perspective to the

people.

Finally, this study will also provide new directions for future research and will enrich the

existing body of research in many ways.

Conclusion

This research aims to explore the facets of binge watching and parasocial relationships with

fictional characters. It attempts to understand and highlight the factors that lead to the
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development of a parasocial relationship, the impact of the relationship on the participants and

the strategies used by them to deal with it. This study also attempts to identify similar patterns

and rule out a relationship between binge watching and development of parasocial relationships

with fictional characters.

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