Self-Presentation and Parasocial Relationship

Perception of Realism and Physical Attraction on Social Media

This project involved designing and conducting an original research project using archival data. Our objective was to identify a psychological phenomenon related to social media, and identify a gap in prior knowledge, then develop a hypothesis and a study that uses archival methods to test it. Archives include publicly-available posts to Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms.

In today’s modern era, majority of our time are spent online, if not, in education, employment, or training. Parasocial relationship is an interesting phenomena to study, especially from the perspective of the Self and how the Self presents itself to the media. This Impact Project allowed me to improve on my critical thinking skills by analyzing social media to identify psychological phenomena, which can be explained with findings through relevant and current research. Additionally, I also developed the skill and willingness to critically evaluate scholarly ideas and engage in scholarly community, which boosted my confidence in my communication skills.