Beyond a costume : parasocial interaction & identification in cosplaying.

This study investigates parasocial interaction and identification with media characters in cosplaying, an activity where fans dress up to look like media characters. The study also briefly examines the cosplay subculture in Singapore. The study is based on in-depth interviews with 25 cosplayers in Singapore as well as field observations of cosplay conventions in Singapore. It was found that parasocial interaction does not occur in isolation in cosplaying and occurs through an interplay of identities- that of the cosplayer’s identity outside of the cosplay (the real identity) and the identity of the media character being cosplayed (the virtual identity), producing a third identity (the projective identity). The projective identity serves as the platform upon which the real and virtual identities interact and hence, is a platform of parasocial interaction. This is put together in a figure (figure 4.1 on page 71) in the thesis. It was also found that factors such as fans’ expectations of how media characters are supposed to act and the presence of other media characters from the same media franchise as represented by other cosplayers had an effect on parasocial interaction in cosplaying. It was also found that cosplayers were differentiated within the community based on their accumulation of subcultural knowledge and capital. Cosplaying served as a vehicle for cosplayers to project an idealised identity (that of the admired media character). Cosplayers were motivated to cosplay primarily out of their fondness for a particular media character and desire to fulfil a wishful identification with that character.​Master of Mass Communicatio