Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues
Abstract Intergroup contact has long been established as a way to reduce prejudice among society, but in-person interventions can be resource intensive and limited in reach. Parasocial relationships (PSRs) might navigate these problems by reaching large audiences with minimal resources and have been...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17487-3 |
| _version_ | 1811226761114943488 |
|---|---|
| author | Shaaba Lotun Veronica M. Lamarche Spyridon Samothrakis Gillian M. Sandstrom Ana Matran-Fernandez |
| author_facet | Shaaba Lotun Veronica M. Lamarche Spyridon Samothrakis Gillian M. Sandstrom Ana Matran-Fernandez |
| author_sort | Shaaba Lotun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Intergroup contact has long been established as a way to reduce prejudice among society, but in-person interventions can be resource intensive and limited in reach. Parasocial relationships (PSRs) might navigate these problems by reaching large audiences with minimal resources and have been shown to help reduce prejudice in an extended version of contact theory. However, previous studies have shown inconsistent success. We assessed whether parasocial interventions reduce prejudice towards people with mental health issues by first creating a new PSR with a YouTube creator disclosing their experiences with borderline personality disorder. Our intervention successfully reduced explicit prejudice and intergroup anxiety. We corroborated these effects through causal analyses, where lower prejudice levels were mediated by the strength of parasocial bond. Preliminary findings suggest that this lower prejudice is sustained over time. Our results support the parasocial contact hypothesis and provide an organic method to passively reduce prejudice on a large scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T09:30:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e712e057b95140f5950e85a5df76d521 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T09:30:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-e712e057b95140f5950e85a5df76d5212022-12-22T03:38:23ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-10-0112111310.1038/s41598-022-17487-3Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issuesShaaba Lotun0Veronica M. Lamarche1Spyridon Samothrakis2Gillian M. Sandstrom3Ana Matran-Fernandez4Department of Psychology, University of EssexDepartment of Psychology, University of EssexInstitute for Analytics and Data Science, University of EssexDepartment of Psychology, University of EssexBrain-Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering Lab, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of EssexAbstract Intergroup contact has long been established as a way to reduce prejudice among society, but in-person interventions can be resource intensive and limited in reach. Parasocial relationships (PSRs) might navigate these problems by reaching large audiences with minimal resources and have been shown to help reduce prejudice in an extended version of contact theory. However, previous studies have shown inconsistent success. We assessed whether parasocial interventions reduce prejudice towards people with mental health issues by first creating a new PSR with a YouTube creator disclosing their experiences with borderline personality disorder. Our intervention successfully reduced explicit prejudice and intergroup anxiety. We corroborated these effects through causal analyses, where lower prejudice levels were mediated by the strength of parasocial bond. Preliminary findings suggest that this lower prejudice is sustained over time. Our results support the parasocial contact hypothesis and provide an organic method to passively reduce prejudice on a large scale.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17487-3 |
| spellingShingle | Shaaba Lotun Veronica M. Lamarche Spyridon Samothrakis Gillian M. Sandstrom Ana Matran-Fernandez Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues Scientific Reports |
| title | Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues |
| title_full | Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues |
| title_fullStr | Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues |
| title_short | Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues |
| title_sort | parasocial relationships on youtube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17487-3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shaabalotun parasocialrelationshipsonyoutubereduceprejudicetowardsmentalhealthissues AT veronicamlamarche parasocialrelationshipsonyoutubereduceprejudicetowardsmentalhealthissues AT spyridonsamothrakis parasocialrelationshipsonyoutubereduceprejudicetowardsmentalhealthissues AT gillianmsandstrom parasocialrelationshipsonyoutubereduceprejudicetowardsmentalhealthissues AT anamatranfernandez parasocialrelationshipsonyoutubereduceprejudicetowardsmentalhealthissues |