My little princess: Exploring mothers’ experiences of their daughter’s parasocial relationships with Disney princesses

Abstract

Abstract The proliferation of the Disney Princess line of media and products has been a pervasive part of American culture for several decades. In this study, mothers of young girls were interviewed to better understand how they restrict their children’s parasocial relationships (PSR) with Disney princesses as a result of their peer reference group influence. Results suggest that mothers were cautious of too much Disney Princess media consumption by their young girls but they did not go to extreme measures to prevent them from having a PSR with a Disney Princess character. Although some mothers felt the pressure of social comparison most were primarily concerned with their daughter’s healthy social development and representation of good role models in the princess-related movies and products.