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Horton and Wohl revisited: Exploring viewers’ experience of parasocial interaction
Hartmann, T.; Goldhoorn, C.
published in
Journal of Communication
2011
DOI (link to publisher)
10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01595.x
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Link to publication in VU Research Portal
citation for published version (APA)
Hartmann, T., & Goldhoorn, C. (2011). Horton and Wohl revisited: Exploring viewers’ experience of parasocial
interaction. Journal of Communication, 61(6), 1104-1121. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01595.x
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Download date: 09. Aug. 2022
Journal of Communication ISSN 0021-9916
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Horton and Wohl Revisited: Exploring
Viewers’ Experience of Parasocial Interaction
Tilo Hartmann & Charlotte Goldhoorn
Department of Communication Science, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Linking back to D. Horton and R. Wohl (1956), the present approach conceptualizes
and empirically examines viewers’ parasocial interaction experience with a TV performer.
Causes and outcomes of parasocial interaction experience are examined. To this end,
a new Experience of Parasocial Interaction (EPSI) scale is introduced. In a 2 (Bodily
Addressing) × 2 (Verbal Addressing) between-subjects experiment (N = 198) viewers
reported a more intense parasocial experience if they were addressed by a TV performer
on a bodily and verbal level. In addition, the more viewers perceived the performer to be
attractive and the stronger their perspective-taking ability, the more intense their parasocial
experience. Stronger parasocial experience resulted in higher commitment to social norms
and a greater enjoyment of the exposure situation.
doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01595.x
Since Horton and Wohl introduced the concept in 1956, parasocial interaction
developed into a popular field of Communication Science (Giles, 2002). In their
seminal article, Horton and Wohl understood parasocial interaction as a ‘‘simulacrum
of conversational give and take’’ (p. 215) that takes place between users and mass
media performers, particularly television performers. Horton and Wohl considered
parasocial interaction an (illusionary) experience of the viewer, who would feel like
being in an interaction with a television performer, despite of the nonreciprocal expo-
sure situation. In a follow-up publication, Horton and Strauss (1957) further expli-
cated the experiential qualities of parasocial interaction, by arguing that a ‘‘parasocial
interaction [is experienced by the user] as immediate, personal, and reciprocal, but
these qualities are illusory and are presumably not shared by the speaker’’ (p. 580).
In contrast to this initial understanding of parasocial interaction, many of
the later studies in the field conceptualized parasocial interaction as a kind of
long-term identification or parasocial relationship with a media performer (e.g.,
Rubin & McHugh, 1987; Rubin & Perse, 1987; Rubin, Perse, & Powell, 1985). For
Corresponding author: Tilo Hartmann; e-mail: t.hartmann@fsw.vu.nl
1104 Journal of Communication 61 (2011) 1104–1121 © 2011 International Communication Association
T. Hartmann & C. Goldhoorn Parasocial Experience
example, Grant, Guthrie, and Ball-Rokeach (1991) defined ‘‘parasocial interaction
[as] a relationship between viewers and television personalities’’ (p. 782). Rubin and
McHugh (1987) also considered ‘‘parasocial interaction [as] a one-sided interpersonal
relationship that television viewers establish with media characters’’ (p. 280). The
same idea of parasocial interaction underlies the most popular measure in the field,
the Parasocial Interaction scale (PSI scale, Rubin, Perse, & Powell, 1985). Therefore,
the scale primarily captures users’ friendships toward media performers, rather than
users’ feeling of being involved in an interaction with the performer during media
exposure (Auter & Palmgreen, 2000; Cohen, 2009; Schramm & Hartmann, 2008).
The present approach goes back to the original idea of parasocial interaction
by Horton and Wohl (1956) and examines parasocial interaction as TV viewers’
experience of being in a ‘‘conversational give-and-take’’ with a TV performer. This
approach seems fruitful, because viewers’ experience to be part of a social interaction
with a TV performer during exposure is conceptually different from an enduring
positive relationship that viewers’ establish with a TV performer (Giles, 2002). To
explore users’ illusionary experience of being engaged in real social interaction with a
TV performer during exposure, the present paper introduces a newly developed scale:
the EPSI scale. In addition, the present paper discusses and empirically tests plausible
causes and outcomes of a parasocial experience. A TV performer’s addressing style
is examined as a crucial determinant of a parasocial experience, and the perceived
attractiveness of a TV performer as well as viewers’ ability to adopt the perspective
of other persons are examined as additional determinants. Viewers’ commitment
to social norms during exposure and their enjoyment of the exposure episode are
investigated as important outcomes of a parasocial interaction experience.
Conceptualizing the parasocial interaction experience
Following Horton and Wohl (1956), parasocial interaction is ‘‘one-sided,
nondialectical, controlled by the performer, and not susceptible of mutual develop-
ment’’ (p. 215). However, TV users are supposed to experience parasocial encounters
completely differently, namely as ‘‘immediate, personal, and reciprocal’’ (Horton &
Strauss, 1957, p. 580). Accordingly, parasocial encounters provide the users with the
illusion of being engaged in a social interaction with the TV performer. ‘‘The audience
responds [on TV performers] with something more than mere running observation;
it is, as it were, subtly insinuated into the programme’s action and [...] transformed
into a group which observes and participates in the show by turns’’ (Horton & Wohl,
1956, p. 215). Accordingly, viewers may experiencea parasocial interaction in a similar
way they would experience a real social interaction (Chory-Assad & Yanen, 2005).
The feeling of being in a social interaction
Horton and colleagues did not conceptualize the experiential facets of parasocial
experiences in every detail. A look into more recent research on social interaction
helps to further conceptualize parasocial experiences (e.g., Biocca, Burgoon, Harms,
Journal of Communication 61 (2011) 1104–1121 © 2011 International Communication Association 1105
Parasocial Experience T. Hartmann & C. Goldhoorn
& Stoner, 2001; Goffman, 1963, 1983; Malle & Hodges, 2005). Recent psychological
research suggests that in any social encounter individuals engage in mindreading to
infer the mental states of other people being present (Malle, 2005; Malle & Hodges,
2005). In contrast to more reflective ways of perspective-taking, mindreading occurs
automatically. Automatic mindreading results in intuitive feelings about the other
rather than elaborate beliefs (Chartrand, Maddux, & Lakin, 2005; Malle, 2005;
Sally, 2000). Because mindreading is a highly automatic activity underlying any
social encounter, it seems plausible that also TV viewers automatically engage in
mindreading when they encounter TV performers. On the basis of their mindreading
activity, they may quickly establish a feeling to be involved in a social interaction
with the TV performer. For example, if a TV performer gazes directly into the
camera, users may automatically acquire the feeling that the performer would look at
them, personally. The present approach builds on the assumption that a parasocial
experience primarily results from viewers’ highly automatic mindreading processes.
As such, a parasocial experience can be considered an immediate and natural response
of TV users (Horton & Strauss, 1957).
Mutual awareness and attention
More specifically, just like any other social encounter, a parasocial experience
should be accompanied by an immediate sense of mutual awareness and mutual
attention with the TV performer (Goffmann, 1983). A sense of mutual awareness
and attention builds on automatic mindreading activities (Malle & Hodges, 2005).
Mutual awareness and attention imply that an individual is not only aware of another
person, but also senses that the other person is aware of him or her, and that the
other person knows that they are mutually aware of each other (Perner & Wimmer,
1985). ‘‘Persons must sense that they are [...] perceived in whatever they are doing,
including their experiencing of others, [...and that they are] perceived in this sensing
of being perceived’’ (Goffman, 1963, p. 17). If viewers read out the mind of a TV
performer, they may quickly acquire the impression that the performer is aware of
them and pays attention to them. This seems particularly likely if the TV performer
displays natural cues that normally initiate social interaction (Goffman, 1963). For
example, a TV performer may try to establish eye contact with the viewers or may
act as if he or she would personally talk to them. These cues may effectively evoke
the feeling in viewers that the TV performer is aware of them and pays attention
to them. Because viewers, while watching, are also aware of the TV performer,
they should acquire a sense of mutual awareness and attention in the exposure
situation.
Mutual adjustment
Next to a sense of mutual awareness and attention, TV users may also acquire a
feeling of reciprocity in terms of mutual adjustment. If interactants are mutually
aware of each other, they also tend to adjust their behavior throughout the encounter
(Goffmann, 1983). For example, in an interaction, people tend to synchronize their
1106 Journal of Communication 61 (2011) 1104–1121 © 2011 International Communication Association
T. Hartmann & C. Goldhoorn Parasocial Experience
body posture, gesture, facial expressions, timing and structure of speech, heart rate,
and more (Chartrand et al., 2005; Malle, 2005). Accordingly, TV viewers’ parasocial
experiences may also be characterized by a sense of mutual adjustment with TV
performers. For example, viewers may not only respond to the behavior of a TV
performer, but may develop the feeling that the TV performer responds on their
behavior as well.
Taken together, the present approach defines a parasocial experience as an
immediate feeling or impression that results from users’ automatic mindreading
activities. The experience is characterized by a felt reciprocity with a TV performer
that comprises a sense of mutual awareness, attention, and adjustment.
Potential causes and consequences of a parasocial experience
Viewers’ parasocial experience may be influenced by various factors and may lead to
several consequences. The present approach reviews typical causes and consequences
of parasocial interaction that have been addressed in the literature, and discusses how
these may be related to parasocial experiences. A TV performer’s addressing style
and attractiveness, and viewers’ cognitive perspective-taking ability are discussed as
factors potentially influencing a parasocial experience.
Causes of a parasocial experience
Addressing style of TV performer
Parasocial interaction is strongly influenced by the behavior of a TV performer
(Horton & Strauss, 1957; Horton & Wohl, 1956). The way how a TV performer
adjusts his or her performance in order to address the audience seems to be of
particular importance (‘‘addressing style’’; Auter, 1992; Auter & Moore, 2003; Cohen,
2001; Hartmann & Klimmt, 2005; Mancini, 1988). Similar to real interaction, a TV
performer’s addressing style seems part and parcel to the initiation and maintenance
of parasocial interaction (Cohen, 2001). For example, in a survey study by Hartmann
and Klimmt (2005), TV users watching an episode of a German crime series reported
stronger levels of parasocial processing (measured with a preliminary version of the
Parasocial Process Scale; Schramm & Hartmann, 2008) the more they felt addressed
by the main character of the show. In an experiment by Auter (1992), viewers
watching episodes of a TV sitcom in which the main characters looked directly into
the camera reported stronger parasocial interaction (measured by the PSI scale) than
viewers watching episodes without addressing.
Bodily addressing
TV performers’ addressing style may also initiate and intensify users’ parasocial
experiences. TV performers can address viewers on a bodily (or nonverbal) and a
verbal level (DeVito, 2001). TV performers directly address viewers on a bodily level if
they adjust their head and eyes toward the viewers (i.e., toward the camera; Malandro,
Barker, & Barker, 1989). Particularly eye-gazing is considered a crucial mechanism in
Journal of Communication 61 (2011) 1104–1121 © 2011 International Communication Association 1107
