Imaginary Friends can fend off loneliness

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Fionnuala Butler and Cynthia Pickett

Stomach growling, but have no time for a meal? A snack will do. Drowsy and unable to concentrate? A short nap can be reviving when a good night's rest is unavailable. But what should you do when you are alone and feeling lonely?

New psychological research suggests that loneliness can be alleviated by simply turning on your favorite TV show. In the same way that a snack can satiate hunger in lieu of a meal, it seems that watching favorite TV shows can provide the experience of belonging without a true interpersonal interaction.

For decades, psychologists have been interested in understanding how individuals achieve and maintain social relationships in order to ward off social isolation and loneliness. The vast majority of this research has focused on relationships between real individuals interacting face-to-face. Recent research has widened this focus from real relationships to faux, "parasocial" relationships. Parasocial relationships are the kind of one sided pseudo-relationships we develop over time with people or characters we might see on TV or in the movies. So, just as a friendship evolves through spending time together and sharing personal thoughts and opinions, parasocial relationships evolve by watching characters on our favorite TV shows, and becoming involved with their personal lives, idiosyncrasies, and experiences as if they were those of a friend.

In a recent article published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Jaye Derrick and Shira Gabriel of the University of Buffalo and Kurt Hugenberg of Miami University test what they call the "Social Surrogacy Hypothesis."

The authors theorized that loneliness motivates individuals to seek out relationships, even if those relationships are not real. In a series of experiments, the authors demonstrated that participants were more likely to report watching a favorite TV show when they were feeling lonely and reported being less likely to feel lonely while watching. This preliminary evidence suggests that people spontaneously seek out social surrogates when real interactions are unavailable. The authors also found that participants who recalled a fight with a close person in their lives wrote for significantly longer about their favorite TV show than a non-favored TV show. It appears that experiencing a lack of belonging actually caused people to revel in their favorite TV shows, as though the parasocial relationships with TV characters replaced the flawed relationships that had been recalled.

A common experience following a threat to interpersonal relationships, such as a fight, or social rejection, is lowered self-esteem and negative mood. However, the researchers found that those participants who experienced a relationship threat and then watched their favorite TV show were buffered against the blow to self-esteem, negative mood, and feelings of rejection.

more...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article....aginary-friends

[Bobby+Umit 161]

They all left me...

sooooo alone.....

[Chica Yeyé 41]

They all left me...

sooooo alone.....

We iz still here brother... cry not

[one...two...tree 2,762]

some of my favorite imaginary friends...

[Bobby+Umit 161]

They all left me...

sooooo alone.....

We iz still here brother... cry not

but they all haz the boobies...

[Chica Yeyé 41]

They all left me...

sooooo alone.....

We iz still here brother... cry not

but they all haz the boobies...

OMG!!! You were imaginary friends with the giant ####### from Woody Allen's movie???

[Dogwood_Poet 16]

But the voices in my head will get jealous!

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

Oh, dear. All my imaginary friends are on summer hiatus. Guess I'll just have to make do with my husband until next season.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Oh, dear. All my imaginary friends are on summer hiatus. Guess I'll just have to make do with my husband until next season.

Good one!

[Scott & Lai 12]

So what happens when your imaginary friends are cancelled?

[Emancipation 2]

I'm not ashamed to admit I had an imaginary friend growing up. Her name was Jenna and she was my BF for 3 years (age 4-6). My parents (who grew increasingly tired of my friend) finally put an end to it when they dropped me off at her house (I had a real life house picked out near my home where I said she lived) and drove away. I immediately (obviously) started crying and I never mentioned her again. Talk about growing up fast.

Edited July 30, 2009 by Emancipation

[HAL 9000 96]

Does this have anything to do every time us, as readers, read other posters mention a certain 'we' when replying to others?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Does this have anything to do every time us, as readers, read other posters mention a certain 'we' when replying to others?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

We are not amused...

[HAL 9000 96]

We are not amused...

You and your special shoes.