Using narrative media to satisfy intrinsic needs: Connecting parasocial relationships, retrospective imaginative involvement, and self-determination theory.

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Taking advantage of the divergent strategies for instruction at different universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study presents a quasi-experiment comparing narrative media use by students at an online-only university (lower social interaction) with those at an in-person university (higher social interaction). To do so, we rely on perspectives from research on parasocial relationships, retrospective imaginative involvement, and self-determination theory. Students with lower social interaction were expected to rely more heavily on narrative media content to satisfy intrinsic needs by engaging in parasocial relationships with media characters and also retrospectively imagining media content. Our results confirmed that parasocial relationships and retrospective imaginative involvement were predictive of need satisfaction through narrative media;however, these patterns were similar among students at both universities—likely due to extreme feelings of isolation in both groups © 2021 American Psychological Association