Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

This study investigated identification and parasocial relationships (PSRs) with media characters by examining viewers’ responses to the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens through an online survey of 113 audience members who saw the film in a theater within a month of its release. Participants reported stronger PSR and identification with the more familiar characters from the first trilogy than with the new characters introduced in the film, although the association with identification was limited to older participants. Star Wars fanship was associated with identification and PSR for old and new characters. Familiarity with the earlier films was associated with …