More Attached, Less Stressed: Viewers’ Parasocial Attachment to Virtual Youtubers and Its Influence on the Stress of Viewers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is stressful for people, yet it has witnessed an exponential growth in the number of Virtual Youtubers and their viewers in China. Virtual Youtubers (VTubers) are people represented by virtual 2D or 3D avatars on different platforms. From the perspective of media psychology, an online survey of 669 participants was conducted to examine the intensity of Chinese viewers’ parasocial attachment to the VTubers and the influence of such attachment on the stress of these viewers during the pandemic. As a result, positive correlations were found between viewers’ parasocial attachment to VTubers and the stress relief of these viewers.