We all have our favorite tv show. That one where we have our favorite characters -- the complex ones, the funny ones, the ones we feel … like we’re friends with? That feeling is what’s called a parasocial relationship in scientific literature. Of course, we’re not friends with our favorite fictional characters; they aren’t real. By definition, parasocial relationships are one-sided, with one party putting in all the effort and the other party remaining unaware of the other’s existence (Bennet...

We all have our favorite tv show. That one where we have our favorite characters -- the complex ones, the funny ones, the ones we feel … like we’re friends with? That feeling is what’s called a parasocial relationship in scientific literature. Of course, we’re not friends with our favorite fictional characters; they aren’t real. By definition, parasocial relationships are one-sided, with one party putting in all the effort and the other party remaining unaware of the other’s existence (Bennet...