Explore

MMPR Scale OVerview

⁠

🧠 MMPR Scale: Developer’s Main Claim and Purpose of Subdimensions

The MMPR was developed by Garcia, Björk, and Kazemitabar (2022) to provide a comprehensive framework for assessing parasocial relationships, especially in the context of social media. The developers argue that parasocial relationships are multifaceted and cannot be captured by a single dimension. Their main claim is that parasocial engagement involves four interrelated dimensions:

Affective – Emotional attachment to the media figure.

Behavioral – Actions taken in response to the media figure (e.g., liking, sharing).

Cognitive – Thoughts and beliefs about the media figure.

Decisional – Influence of the media figure on personal decisions.

These dimensions are grounded in the multidimensional model of attitudes, which posits that attitudes consist of affective, behavioral, and cognitive components. The Decisional dimension was added to reflect the influence of media figures on real-life choices.

The MMPR was validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, showing support for a four-factor structure. However, some studies suggest that while the total scale shows good internal consistency, the subscales may have lower reliability, raising questions about whether the scale is truly multidimensional or essentially unidimensional

[1]⁠

🎯 Why Did the MMPR Use the Model of Attitudes?

The developers of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR)—Garcia, Björk, and Kazemitabar—chose to ground the scale in the multidimensional model of attitudes because parasocial relationships are not just emotional attachments. They involve:

Feelings (affective),

Thoughts (cognitive),

Actions (behavioral),

and Influence on decisions (decisional).

This model is widely used in psychology to understand how people form and express attitudes toward objects, people, or ideas. By applying it to parasocial relationships, the MMPR captures the complex and layered nature of how individuals relate to media figures—especially in the age of social media, where influencers can shape not just emotions but also beliefs and behaviors

[1]⁠

⁠

🔍 What Does the MMPR Scale Primarily Investigate?

The MMPR is designed to measure the depth and nature of parasocial engagement with social media figures. Specifically, it investigates:

Affective Dimension – Emotional closeness or attachment to the media figure.

Behavioral Dimension – Observable actions like liking, sharing, or commenting.

Cognitive Dimension – Beliefs, thoughts, and perceived understanding of the media figure.

Decisional Dimension – The extent to which the media figure influences personal decisions (e.g., lifestyle, purchases, values).

Together, these dimensions help researchers understand how and why people form one-sided relationships with influencers or celebrities, and how these relationships affect their psychosocial functioning

[1]⁠

⁠

📊 Unidimensional vs. Multidimensional Psychological Tests

🔍 How to Determine Dimensionality:

Factor Analysis:

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): Identifies the number of underlying factors.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): Tests how well the data fits a hypothesized factor structure.

Bifactor Models: Can show a general factor with specific subdimensions.

Statistical Criteria:

Eigenvalues > 1 rule.

Scree plot inspection.

Parallel analysis.

Fit indices: RMSEA, CFI, SRMR.

Reliability Measures:

Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega for each subscale.

High alpha for the total scale but low for subscales may suggest essential unidimensionality

[2]⁠

⁠

📚 Examples of Parasocial Relationship Scales and Their Dimensionality

Table 4

Table 4

Scale Name

Dimensions

Unidimensional or Multidimensional?

Notes

MMPR (Garcia et al., 2022)

Affective, Behavioral, Cognitive, Decisional

Multidimensional (with bifactor structure)

Some evidence suggests essential unidimensionality due to low subscale reliability.

PRISM (Boyd et al., 2022)

Interest, Knowledge, Identification, Interaction

Multidimensional

Designed for social media contexts; validated via EFA.

[3]

⁠

Parasocial Interaction Scale (Cole & Leets, 1999)

Attachment-based items

Unidimensional

Based on attachment theory; measures emotional closeness.

[4]

⁠

Experience of Parasocial Interaction Scale (EPSI)

Mutual awareness during media exposure

Unidimensional

Focuses on in-the-moment interaction, not long-term relationship.

[5]

⁠

There are no rows in this table

⁠

References

[1]

Adaptation and validation of the Multidimensional Measure of ... - Nature⁠

⁠

[2]

Unidimensionality: Definition, Examples - Statistics How To⁠

⁠

[3]

Development and Validation of the Parasocial Relationship in Social ...⁠

⁠

[4]

Parasocial Interaction Scale - APA PsycNet⁠

⁠

[5]

Parasocial Interaction and Parasocial Relationship: Conceptual ... - CORE⁠

⁠

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.