Romantic Parasocial Attachments and the Development of Romantic Scripts, Schemas and Beliefs among Adolescents

From the Beatles to One Direction, adolescent crushes on media figures have fueled media industry success throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Adolescent girls turn to these media figures to practice romantic relationships via parasocial (perceived, mediated) attachments. This study examines recalled adolescent romantic parasocial attachments as they relate to the development of scripts, schemas, and normative beliefs about romance. In a survey of college women, more intense recalled romantic parasocial attachments in adolescence were associated with increased relationship-contingent self-esteem, increased negative evaluations of sexual experience, and an increased likelihood of experiencing passionate love. This analysis argues that parasocial romantic attachments are a common aspect of adolescent development, with potential implications for sexual socialization.