茄子视频

If you鈥檝e answered yes to any, you might be in a parasocial relationship, according to Julianna Nails, a PhD student in clinical psychology at the 茄子视频 Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology.

For the past several years, Nails has been studying the rise of parasocial relationships鈥攐r one-sided emotional connections between fans and public figures鈥攊n the age of social media. She wants to know what kinds of people are seeking out parasocial relationships with social media influencers, and what effects, if any, these relationships are having on their mental health.

At first glance, a parasocial relationship with an influencer might seem like a silver bullet for isolated young adults鈥攁 population wracked by a so-called global 鈥渓oneliness epidemic.鈥� Attachments to influencers allow feelings of intimacy to be accessed anytime, anywhere, with no risk of rejection. Nails was curious to learn more about the psychological consequences of these relationships. Can they really relieve loneliness? Or do they ultimately replace in-person connections and push people to isolate?

A Student-Faculty Collaboration That鈥檚 Breaking New Ground

As an undergraduate, Nails researched the decline of college students鈥� mental health since the 1980s. 鈥淭oday, college students are significantly more anxious and depressed than they were a generation ago,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I suspected social media had something to do with that.鈥� That hunch became a full-fledged research project once she entered Adelphi鈥檚 PhD program and found a faculty mentor in Katherine L. Fiori, PhD, professor and associate dean at the Derner School.

For Dr. Fiori, a developmental psychologist who studies interpersonal relationships and attachments, parasocial relationships were a promising line of scholarly inquiry. When she was introduced to Nails through Derner鈥檚 research mentor matching process, she had already been thinking about today鈥檚 鈥減hone-based childhoods,鈥� which have supplanted the 鈥減lay-based childhoods鈥� of yesteryear. If children now grow up with ubiquitous access to social media platforms, she wondered, are they more likely to form unhealthy attachments with the people on platforms? Parasociality offered a compelling entry into further exploration.

While looking into the literature, Nails and Dr. Fiori discovered a gap: parasocial relationships specifically with social media influencers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a big part of young people鈥檚 online experience today,鈥� Nails said, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 something that hadn鈥檛 been studied in depth before.鈥�

Their work has been more collaborative than the student-faculty dynamic might connote. 鈥淚鈥檝e really enjoyed working together,鈥� Nails said. 鈥淭his is a newer interest for Dr. Fiori, so while she鈥檚 able to give me a lot of guidance, we鈥檙e still brainstorming together. I鈥檓 not necessarily being directed by an authority.鈥� Dr. Fiori agrees, saying she often feels like she鈥檚 鈥渟peaking with a colleague.鈥�

Surveying Where, Why and How Parasocial Relationships Are Formed

Since beginning her doctoral training in 2024, Nails has developed several different research projects to answer her research questions. Most recently, she presented her findings at Adelphi鈥檚 Scholarship and Creative Works Conference and the International Association for Relationship Research鈥檚 annual conference in Scotland.

For her master鈥檚 thesis, Nails created a research survey for people between the ages of 18 and 29 who follow influencers on any platform. Survey participants were asked about their connection with their favorite influencer鈥攊n particular, whether their opinions and values align with the influencer鈥檚鈥攁s well as their other social relationships, social media usage and emotional well-being.

Nails and Dr. Fiori are still sifting through data from the survey, but they鈥檝e already identified several trends. 鈥淭here are a lot of ways in which people are 鈥榰sing鈥� influencers,鈥� Dr. Fiori noted. For some, 鈥渇un鈥� or 鈥渆ntertainment鈥� was the draw. Others admitted they were finding real social support from their favorite influencer.

Though influencers create content about everything from politics to tech gadgets, travel and fitness, the most popular content niche among survey respondents was 鈥渄ay in my life.鈥� In these videos, an influencer takes the audience through a regular day, often beginning with a morning routine and their OOTD (outfit of the day), then interpolating clips of meals, exercise, work, errands and socializing over a voiceover narration. The content is frothy, but the audience appeal is, inexplicably, enormous. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working on figuring that one out,鈥� Nails said. 鈥淎re 鈥榙ay in my life鈥� videos providing pure entertainment value? Are they aspirational? Or are people feeling an emotional connection there?鈥�

The Parasocial Paradox

At first, Nails hypothesized that parasocial relationships would reduce feelings of loneliness. As more survey data came in, however, she saw evidence of the opposite: Young people who form parasocial relationships are actually lonelier than those who don鈥檛. Still, like many hypotheses in psychology research, this one is still correlational, not causal. In other words, Nails and Dr. Fiori don鈥檛 yet know if parasociality is making people lonely, or if lonely people are simply more likely to pursue parasocial relationships.

鈥淲e know what the intention is,鈥� Dr. Fiori said. 鈥淧eople seek out relationships because they want to feel less lonely. But the brain isn鈥檛 equipped to think about parasocial relationships as different from in-person relationships, even though they are.鈥� She鈥檚 hesitant to believe that parasocial relationships can have the same benefits, although the reality is, she says, a little more complicated. 鈥淪ome young people with supportive friends and family will use influencers for extra support. Some don鈥檛, and these relationships are all they have. That drives very different outcomes.鈥�

Only further research will tell if parasocial relationships really do cause loneliness. As Nails embarks on work for her doctoral dissertation, she鈥檚 hoping to discover evidence of causality between parasociality and negative mental health outcomes, such as anxiety and depression, among young people.

鈥淓verything in Moderation鈥�

For now, Nails doesn鈥檛 necessarily recommend doing a digital detox if you think you鈥檝e formed a parasocial relationship with an influencer. Instead, she says, focus on the reciprocal relationships in your life鈥攜our networks through work, school or hobbies, the friends and family you talk to every day鈥攁nd you might see that obsessive, one-directional attachment fade to casual interest. 鈥淪o far, our greatest takeaway has been 鈥榚verything in moderation.鈥欌��