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The A(ffect) B(ehavior) C(ognition) D(ecision) of parasocial relationships : A pilot study on the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR)

Garcia, Danilo LU orcid ; Björk, Elina and Kazemitabar, Maryam (2022) In Heliyon 8(10).
Abstract

The aim of this pilot study was to preliminary test the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR), a self-report that assess people's attitude (affect, cognition, and behavior) towards social media figures and to what extent people perceive that media figures influence their daily life decisions (e.g., consumption, exercise, nutrition). In short, the MMPR measures how and to what extent people are committed to such one-sided relationships and interactions through social media platforms. Besides factor structural analyses (four different models) and internal consistency, we also tested the MMPR's concurrent validity by investigating if, as hypothesized, the association between commitment... (More)

The aim of this pilot study was to preliminary test the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR), a self-report that assess people's attitude (affect, cognition, and behavior) towards social media figures and to what extent people perceive that media figures influence their daily life decisions (e.g., consumption, exercise, nutrition). In short, the MMPR measures how and to what extent people are committed to such one-sided relationships and interactions through social media platforms. Besides factor structural analyses (four different models) and internal consistency, we also tested the MMPR's concurrent validity by investigating if, as hypothesized, the association between commitment to parasocial relationships and self-esteem is mediated by its positive association to social comparison. Participants (N = 259) answered to the MMPR, the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. As expected, the MMPR loaded in four dimensions and had good internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach's Alphas were between .66-.75 for the four dimensions and .85 for the whole measure). The bifactor model with correlated factors had the best fit indexes (CFI = .95, RMSEA = .07). Moreover, the direct effect of MMPR was positive on social comparison (β = .18, p < .01), the direct effect of social comparison on self-esteem was negative (β = -.51, p < .001), and the indirect effect of MMPR on self-esteem was negative (β = -.09, p < .01). In sum, our results suggest that parasocial relationships through social media platforms consist of four necessary and correlated dimensions (A: Affective; B: Behavioral; C: Cognitive; and D: Decisional). Moreover, the MMPR successfully assessed that high level of commitment with parasocial relationships are positively associated with the tendency to compare oneself to others, which in turn leads to low levels of self-esteem. Hence, the MMPR has sound psychometric properties and is a good candidate for further analyses.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Classical test theory, Parasocial interactions, Parasocial relationships, Self-esteem, Social comparison orientation, Social media
in
Heliyon
volume
8
issue
10
article number
e10779
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:36217483
  • scopus:85139370903
ISSN
2405-8440
DOI
10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10779
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
78641d7d-a9d5-4d0d-89d6-004c3b5023d4
date added to LUP
2022-12-09 14:48:19
date last changed
2024-06-13 13:01:19
@article{78641d7d-a9d5-4d0d-89d6-004c3b5023d4,
  abstract     = {{<p>The aim of this pilot study was to preliminary test the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR), a self-report that assess people's attitude (affect, cognition, and behavior) towards social media figures and to what extent people perceive that media figures influence their daily life decisions (e.g., consumption, exercise, nutrition). In short, the MMPR measures how and to what extent people are committed to such one-sided relationships and interactions through social media platforms. Besides factor structural analyses (four different models) and internal consistency, we also tested the MMPR's concurrent validity by investigating if, as hypothesized, the association between commitment to parasocial relationships and self-esteem is mediated by its positive association to social comparison. Participants (N = 259) answered to the MMPR, the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. As expected, the MMPR loaded in four dimensions and had good internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach's Alphas were between .66-.75 for the four dimensions and .85 for the whole measure). The bifactor model with correlated factors had the best fit indexes (CFI = .95, RMSEA = .07). Moreover, the direct effect of MMPR was positive on social comparison (β = .18, p &lt; .01), the direct effect of social comparison on self-esteem was negative (β = -.51, p &lt; .001), and the indirect effect of MMPR on self-esteem was negative (β = -.09, p &lt; .01). In sum, our results suggest that parasocial relationships through social media platforms consist of four necessary and correlated dimensions (A: Affective; B: Behavioral; C: Cognitive; and D: Decisional). Moreover, the MMPR successfully assessed that high level of commitment with parasocial relationships are positively associated with the tendency to compare oneself to others, which in turn leads to low levels of self-esteem. Hence, the MMPR has sound psychometric properties and is a good candidate for further analyses.</p>}},
  author       = {{Garcia, Danilo and Björk, Elina and Kazemitabar, Maryam}},
  issn         = {{2405-8440}},
  keywords     = {{Classical test theory; Parasocial interactions; Parasocial relationships; Self-esteem; Social comparison orientation; Social media}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Heliyon}},
  title        = {{The A(ffect) B(ehavior) C(ognition) D(ecision) of parasocial relationships : A pilot study on the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10779}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10779}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}