Brief Report: The Relationship Between Parasocial Relationships and Political Orientation

Recent survey research established a connection between political orientation and celebrity worship, a phenomenon characterized in part by a parasocial or one-sided nature of a connection to an individual. Specifically, researchers found that increased levels of celebrity worship were associated with greater conservatism. The aim of the present study was to expand upon these findings by further examining the relationship between political orientation and parasocial relationships. We predicted that increased levels of conservatism would be positively correlated with enhanced parasocial relationships. Analyses did not support our hypotheses. Rather, for those individuals who indicated having a favorite politician, commitment to parasocial relationships was largely in the opposite direction, with greater parasocial commitment being positively correlated with a more liberal than conservative orientation. We found no significant relationships between commitment to parasocial relationships and political orientation for those participants who did not indicate having a favorite politician. Implications of these results are discussed.