“It's a Lot Like Ending Up on the Losing Side of a Relationship”

Author(s):  
Nathan John Rodriguez

Academic interest in parasocial relationships has increased dramatically in the past decade. A subset of this broader topic concerns the relationships between sports fans and a host of athletes, coaches, and teams. An overwhelming majority of those studies examine fan reactions following a singular event rather than over an extended period of time. This chapter unpacks the ways in which college basketball fans reacted to the departure of a beloved coach over a period of nine years. Relevant reader comments were analyzed thematically and coded by an expressed grief state using the Kubler-Ross model. The term “parasocial divorce” is introduced to describe the depth of parasocial relationships for highly motivated fans. The findings reveal how fans can come to loathe a particular persona, and the conditions under which that parasocial relationship may be rehabilitated.

Author(s):  
Nathan John Rodriguez

The study of parasocial relationships has surged in recent years, as fans use new media to access even more information about various media personae. Most work involving sports fans has examined behavior at a particular time rather than over time. This article investigates how Kansas basketball fans reacted to the departure of former head coach Roy Williams over a period of nine years. Opinions were culled from reader responses to articles mentioning Williams on KUsports.com. Each comment was analyzed thematically and then coded by an expressed grief state using the Kubler-Ross (1969) model. The notion of parasocial divorce is introduced to describe the depth of parasocial relationships for highly motivated fans. The findings reveal an ebb and flow of affection and antipathy toward Williams over time. Results demonstrate how quickly fans may grow to loathe a former group member, but also how rapidly and under what conditions that parasocial relationship may be repaired.


Author(s):  
Nathan John Rodriguez

The study of parasocial relationships has surged in recent years, as fans use new media to access even more information about various media personae. Most work involving sports fans has examined behavior at a particular time rather than over time. This article investigates how Kansas basketball fans reacted to the departure of former head coach Roy Williams over a period of nine years. Opinions were culled from reader responses to articles mentioning Williams on KUsports.com. Each comment was analyzed thematically and then coded by an expressed grief state using the Kubler-Ross (1969) model. The notion of parasocial divorce is introduced to describe the depth of parasocial relationships for highly motivated fans. The findings reveal an ebb and flow of affection and antipathy toward Williams over time. Results demonstrate how quickly fans may grow to loathe a former group member, but also how rapidly and under what conditions that parasocial relationship may be repaired.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-464
Author(s):  
Lillian Feder

With sporting events canceled and Safer at Home orders in place, both athletes and sports fans have a void to fill. Consequently, social media use by both parties has increased. Athletes have become more active and interactive online, which may serve to strengthen parasocial relationships between them and their fans. These connections could develop to the extent that the line between parasocial relationship and friendship is blurred. Will stronger ties between athletes and fans be a by-product of COVID-19? In this editorial, the author builds an argument for the plausibility of this result by linking published studies regarding sports fandom and parasocial relationships to current trends in athletes’ use of social media. The author then raises questions regarding the future of sports fandom, which can be assessed once athletics resume. To conclude, the author offers practical recommendations to sports organizations coming out of COVID-19-related suspensions.


Author(s):  
Caitlin McLaughlin ◽  
Donghee Yvette Wohn

The purpose of the current article was to explore parasocial phenomena in the unique and interactive context of live streaming. Specifically, the predictors of parasocial interactions (PSIs) and parasocial relationships (PSRs) were compared. In the past, the terms ‘parasocial interaction’ and ‘parasocial relationship’ have been used interchangeably, even though they are distinct constructs – which has confused researchers’ understanding of these phenomena. The current study aims to begin to disentangle our understanding of these two constructs by studying the predictors for each construct separately. An online survey was utilized to collect data on PSRs, PSIs, and various parasocial predictors that fell into three categories: streamer (source) characteristics, viewer characteristics, and behavioral (relationship) characteristics. Results indicate that streamer characteristics were the most important predictors of both PSIs and PSRs in the live streaming context, although characteristics of the viewer and relationship were also influential. These findings indicate that message sources can modify their content to encourage parasocial phenomena in their audience. This is encouraging, as research suggests that parasocial phenomena lead to many positive repercussions for the media and so are generally considered a goal of media personae.


Author(s):  
William B. McCombs ◽  
Cameron E. McCoy

Recent years have brought a reversal in the attitude of the medical profession toward the diagnosis of viral infections. Identification of bacterial pathogens was formerly thought to be faster than identification of viral pathogens. Viral identification was dismissed as being of academic interest or for confirming the presence of an epidemic, because the patient would recover or die before this could be accomplished. In the past 10 years, the goal of virologists has been to present the clinician with a viral identification in a matter of hours. This fast diagnosis has the potential for shortening the patient's hospital stay and preventing the administering of toxic and/or expensive antibiotics of no benefit to the patient.


Author(s):  
Diane Orentlicher

The span of an international tribunal’s local impact is not the same as its operational life, as Germany’s evolved relationship with Nuremberg highlights. Recognizing that the ICTY’s impact in Bosnia and Serbia will continue to evolve after the Tribunal ends its work, this chapter considers the Tribunal’s future impact, focusing in particular on its potential to stimulate a future reckoning with Serbia’s wartime past. While recognizing myriad differences between post-Milošević Serbia and postwar Germany, this chapter explores factors behind the latter’s eventual emergence as a “model penitent” long after German society rejected the moral message the Allies hoped Nuremberg would impart. It suggests that, after an extended period of “transitional denial,” Nuremberg may have contributed to Germany’s far-reaching reckoning with the past through a process of delayed norm diffusion.


Author(s):  
Samuel D. Hakim

The present study examined the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) and fans’ identity and fanship. The PLL boasts a uniqueness many sports fans are unfamiliar with—non-geographically affiliated teams. Using socialization theory, social identity theory, and fan identity, the author sought to better understand the fan qualities of the PLL, especially surrounding athlete importance. A Qualtrics survey was distributed through reddit.com/r/lacrosse and major lacrosse forums with the goal to assess fanship toward favorite players, favorite teams, and PLL media consumption. Statistical analyses revealed that those who have a previously constructed lacrosse fan identity, consume more lacrosse media, and have been following a professional or college lacrosse athlete in the past are more likely to embrace the PLL. In a league where geographical affiliation is currently absent, research suggests that encouraging fan adoption of a favorite player is key to creating fans who begin to feel investment, loyalty, and increased team identity.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 1127-1128
Author(s):  
ROBERT D. CUNNINGHAM

To the Editor.— Dr Dworkin raises many good points in his review, "British and American Recommendations for Developmental Monitoring: The Role of Surveillance." However, I am skeptical that the concept of "surveillance" is actually different from what physicians have practiced in the past. Dr Dworkin acknowledges "that mild mental retardation is not typically identified until the child is confronted with the cognitive demands of school...," especially when physicians rely on subjective impressions. With the concept of "surveillance," "eyeball" estimates will continue to be made of a child's development; and with each well-child visit and frequently each acute illness visit being of relatively brief duration, I strongly suspect that the overwhelming majority of mildly retarded children will continue to elude detection.


Worldview ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 22 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
Donald Kirk

Ron McLean is a hangover from another era, an aging hippie who still does his hair in a graying pony-tail nearly a decade after he first carried placards and shouted slogans denouncing Japan's support for U.S. policy in Vietnam. For the past eight years of his existence in Japan, though, McLean waged a different kind of crusade—this one against an official ruling that finally forced him to leave the country and return to Hawaii to pursue his academic interest in classical Japanese music.“The government of most countries is intended to protect the rights of the individual,” he said with the didactic air of one who has just discovered a basic truth. “In Japan it's to protect the government.” He was talking in the half light of one of those glittering little coffee shops that purvey a small cup for the equivalent of nearly two dollars and a piece of cake for twice as much.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2447
Author(s):  
Gideon Johannes Bonthuys ◽  
Marco van Dijk ◽  
Giovanna Cavazzini

Excess pressure within water distribution systems not only increases the risk for water losses through leakages but provides the potential for harnessing excess energy through the installation of energy recovery devices, such as turbines or pump-as-turbines. The effect of pressure management on leakage reduction in a system has been well documented, and the potential for pressure management through energy recovery devices has seen a growth in popularity over the past decade. Over the past 2 years, the effect of energy recovery on leakage reduction has started to enter the conversation. With the theoretical potential known, researchers have started to focus on the location of energy recovery devices within water supply and distribution systems and the optimization thereof in terms of specific installation objectives. Due to the instrumental role that both the operating pressure and flow rate plays on both leakage and potential energy, daily variation and fluctuations of these parameters have great influence on the potential energy recovery and subsequent leakage reduction within a water distribution system. This paper presents an enhanced optimization procedure, which incorporates user-defined weighted importance of specific objectives and extended-period simulations into a genetic algorithm, to identify the optimum size and location of potential installations for energy recovery and leakage reduction. The proposed procedure proved to be effective in identifying more cost-effective and realistic solutions when compared to the procedure proposed in the literature.


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