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Cited by 520

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters

Hoffner, Cynthia·1996·Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

Abstract

Children aged 7 to 12 were interviewed about their favorite TV character. Nearly all boys and about half of the girls selected same‐sex favorites. Regression analyses used perceived character traits (attractiveness, strength, humor, intelligence, social behavior) to predict wishful identification and parasocial interaction with characters. For male characters, wishful identification was predicted by intelligence and (for girls only) humor; parasocial interaction was predicted by intelligence, attractiveness, and (for boys only) strength. In marked contrast, for female characters (chosen only by girls), attractiveness was the only significant predictor. Although girls rated female characters as more intelligent than male characters, this trait apparently was not an important determinant of attraction. Interpretations of the findings and implications for socialization effects are discussed.

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Metadata

Authors
Hoffner, C.
Venue
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
Published
1996-06
Volume
40
Issue
3
Pages
389-402
ISSN
  • 0883-8151 (ISSN-L)
  • 1550-6878
OpenAlex
W1999262850
Cited by
520
References
2
FWCI
89.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1080/08838159609364360
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Hoffner, C. (1996). Children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838159609364360

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

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