I Want to Be You(r Friend): An Investigation of the Effects of Gendered Personality Traits on Engagement with Different Modern Family Characters

The extant research focused on gender understood as a single item to explain wishful identification and parasocial relationships with TV characters. This study focused on gendered personality traits and how they contribute to wishful identification, parasocial relationships with (non-)stereotypical male and female characters of the TV series Modern Family, and the series enjoyment in general. Participants (N = 508) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions with questions about either stereotypical male or female or non-stereotypical male or female characters. Respondents also answered questions about their own gender traits (positive/negative feminine/masculine), wishful identification, parasocial friendship and love for the assigned character, and enjoyment of the series. Different gendered personality traits were associated with wishful identification, parasocial friendship, and love with different types of characters, as well as series enjoyment. Thus, we conclude that media characters should exhibit both stereotypical and non-stereotypical traits to reach a broad and diverse audience.