6533b828fe1ef96bd1288c7f
RESEARCH PRODUCT
A magically nice guy: Parasocial relationships with Harry Potter across different cultures
Christoph KlimmtHannah Schmidsubject
EntertainmentIndividualismIndividualistic cultureSociology and Political ScienceCommunicationCollectivismNice guySociologyFandomSocial scienceCross-cultural studiesSocial psychologyHomophilydescription
This study explored parasocial relationships (PSRs) with Harry Potter that readers from different cultures have developed. An overall sample of 2551 Potter fans from Germany (individualistic culture) and Mexico (collectivistic culture) completed an online questionnaire assessing their parasocial relationship with the character. Fans from the collectivistic culture rated Potter’s sociability higher than fans from the individualistic culture. For fans from both cultures, social attraction turned out as most important determinant of PSRs with Potter, while homophily ranked lowest. Overall, PSRs and fandom turned out to be quite similar across cultures, with some differences in character perception and relative importance of social attraction. Implications for parasocial relationships as (inter)cultural phenomena and cross-cultural appreciation of media entertainment are discussed.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-01 | International Communication Gazette |