Leiden University Student Repository

Voort, Anouk van der (2023)

Collectively investing in success: The influence of collectivism on parasocial relationships in K-pop

Bachelor thesis | Koreastudies (BA)

Through three case studies on how Korean K-pop fans react to their idol’s controversies, this thesis discusses how collectivism influences Korean K-pop fans’ parasocial relationships with their idols. It was found that fans form a business-like parasocial relationship with their idol group as a whole, in which the fan functions as an investor or boss and the idol functions as an employee. The fans do, however, simultaneously develop a parasocial love or parasocial friendship relationship with their idols in a way that is similar to fans in Western cultures but has an added condition for the idol to act according to their societal role as a role model or example for the youth.

collectivism, parasocial relationship, fandom, K-pop, idol, celebrity

Author

Voort, Anouk van der

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Green, C.K.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en