Purpose

With growing concerns about users’ well-being on social media, research stresses the importance of threat appraisals as a crucial first step in motivating self-protective actions. This study, in view of the prevalence of parasocial relationships between followers and social media influencers, aims to unravel the complex dynamics of followers’ threat perceptions within these relationships. Specifically, it examines how factors such as perceived self-efficacy to disengage and the positive affect of social media use influence threat appraisals.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model is proposed based on appraisal theory to examine the impact of parasocial relationships on threat perception in engagement. It is empirically tested with data from 186 Instagram users.

Findings

The study reveals an overall positive relationship between parasocial relationships and perceived threat. This relationship is moderated by followers’ perception of self-efficacy to disengage – followers with a high sense of self-efficacy to disengage experience a decrease in threat perception as their parasocial relationships strengthen, whereas followers with a low sense of self-efficacy to disengage report an increase in threat perception with higher levels of parasocial relationships. This interplay is pronounced when followers experience average or below-average levels of positive affect on social media but diminishes when the positive affect is high.

Originality/value

This work contributes insights into social media influencers, threat appraisal dynamics and digital well-being research. Bridging a critical gap in existing knowledge, the study identifies the pivotal roles of followers’ self-efficacy to disengage and positive affect in shaping their threat appraisals toward parasocial relationships with social media influencers. This not only advances theoretical frameworks but also enhances our understanding of the nuanced dynamics of user reactions to parasocial engagements. Our findings offer practical insights for researchers, practitioners and platform developers aiming to cultivate healthy and responsible social media engagement in the digital era, ultimately contributing to individual well-being.

中文翻译：

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解开超社会关系中的威胁：关于社交媒体影响者的研究

 目的

随着人们对社交媒体上用户健康状况的担忧日益增加，研究强调了威胁评估作为激励自我保护行动的关键第一步的重要性。鉴于追随者和社交媒体影响者之间普遍存在的超社会关系，本研究旨在揭示追随者在这些关系中威胁感知的复杂动态。具体来说，它研究了诸如感知到的脱离参与的自我效能感以及社交媒体使用的积极影响等因素如何影响威胁评估。

设计/方法/方法

提出了一种基于评价理论的理论模型，以检验准社会关系对参与中威胁感知的影响。它使用来自 186 个 Instagram 用户的数据进行了实证测试。

 发现

该研究揭示了超社会关系与感知到的威胁之间的总体积极关系。这种关系受到追随者对脱离自我效能感的调节——随着超社会关系的加强，具有高度自我效能感的追随者会经历威胁感知的降低，而自我效能感低的追随者会报告说，超社会关系水平越高，威胁感知就越高。当追随者在社交媒体上体验到平均或低于平均水平的积极影响时，这种相互作用会很明显，但当积极影响很高时，这种相互作用就会减弱。

 原创性/价值

这项工作有助于深入了解社交媒体影响者、威胁评估动态和数字健康研究。该研究弥合了现有知识中的重大差距，确定了追随者脱离参与的自我效能感和积极影响在塑造他们对与社交媒体影响者的超社会关系的威胁评估中的关键作用。这不仅推进了理论框架，还增强了我们对用户对超社会互动反应的细微动态的理解。我们的研究结果为研究人员、从业者和平台开发人员提供了实用的见解，旨在在数字时代培养健康和负责任的社交媒体参与，最终促进个人福祉。