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The impact of interpersonal alienation on excessive Internet fiction reading: Analysis of parasocial relationship as a mediator and relational-interdependent self-construal as a moderator

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Abstract

Internet fiction reading is a proliferating recreational activity in China, for its compelling narratives and immersive experience on portable mobile devices. Based on the uses and gratifications theory, the present study aimed to examine whether interpersonal alienation predicted excessive Internet fiction reading. Specifically, when people do not identify themselves in terms of their relationships with others (low in relational-interdependent self-construal, RISC), the tendency to develop imaginary relationships with media figures (parasocial relationship, PSR), was explored as a mediator between interpersonal alienation and excessive Internet fiction reading. A sample of 627 participants completed an online survey regarding interpersonal alienation, PSR, RISC, and excessive Internet fiction reading. Results showed that interpersonal alienation was positively associated with excessive Internet fiction reading, and PSR partially mediated this association. In addition, the mediating effect of PSR was moderated by RISC. Specifically, the mediating effect was stronger for people with low RISC than those with high RISC. It is among the first studies to identify the determinant of excessive Internet fiction reading from the interpersonal perspective and to provide evidence for the association between interpersonal alienation and excessive Internet fiction reading as well as the underlying mechanisms of such relationship. The current study also advances PSR research into the context of Internet fiction. Limitations and implications are discussed.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Project No. CCNU18CXTD03), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Project No. 2019WKYXQN025) and the National Social Science Foundation of China (Project No. 11&ZD151). No competing financial interests existed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Chen Yang, Zongkui Zhou, Lingfeng Gao & Sumin Zhai

  2. School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Chen Yang, Zongkui Zhou, Lingfeng Gao & Sumin Zhai

  3. College of Education and Sports Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, 434023, China

    Shuailei Lian

  4. School of Marxism, HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Dongjing Zhang

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  1. Chen Yang
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Correspondence to Zongkui Zhou or Dongjing Zhang.

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Appendix 1 Scales

Appendix 1 Scales

Tables 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Table 5 PSI-Scale (Rubin and Perse, 1987) adapted to Internet fiction context
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Table 6 Interpersonal alienation scale (Yang and Wu, 2002)
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Table 7 Excessive Internet fiction reading scale
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Table 8 RISC scale (Cross et al., 2000)
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Appendix 2 Nomination Results

Table 9

Table 9 Names of favorite Internet fiction characters participants listed.
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Yang, C., Zhou, Z., Gao, L. et al. The impact of interpersonal alienation on excessive Internet fiction reading: Analysis of parasocial relationship as a mediator and relational-interdependent self-construal as a moderator. Curr Psychol 42, 19824–19839 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02601-x

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