An African American religious interpretive community's reception of the electronic church via a parasocial interaction investigation

The phenomenon of individuals interacting with media personalities similarly as they would with family and friends represents a communication concept called parasocial interaction. Forming parasocial relationships with media personae is a normal consequence of media exposure (Rubin, 2001). However, the question remains, how does one engage and interpret relationships with television personae? This research study represents an original contribution by interpretively redefining parasocial as a meaning making strategy enacted by viewers to interpret media discourse. These interpretations are not only individualistic renderings, but are socially constructed within interpretive communities.;Parasocial interaction has also been examined in a variety of contexts, but has yet to be empirically researched within the context of the electronic church. The combination of religion and the mass media has produced what is inarguably one of most prominent religious phenomena in America, the electronic church. The electronic church involves religious programming specifically purposed to reach unbelievers.;The study utilized qualitative methodologies that included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. A Southern Baptist African American church served as the cultural site. The study examined the participants' parasocial interactions with televangelists, viewing practices of the electronic church, interpretations of its texts, and perceptions of these programs. As a supplemental interest, the impact of race and gender with regard to the participants' interpretations were also examined.;The analysis of the focus group and in-depth interviews revealed that participants engaged in strategies during their reception of the electronic church, which constituted an interpretive community. The participants' parasocial interactions with televangelists were socially constructed within their interpretive community.;The study results concluded that viewers' parasocial interactions with media personae entail the individual's social and cultural contexts. Parasocial interaction was also extended beyond the participants' viewing situation to include other forms of mediated encounters and interpersonal contacts.