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Outrageous Fortune stars Tammy Davis and Antony Starr - Source: ONE News
People could be more involved with their favourite television shows than they think.
Research has found that in some cases viewers have such intense relationships with popular characters they consider them to be real people.
"When you watch a TV series you start to become intimately connected with the characters," Professor Cristel Russell from the University of Auckland said.
Russell told TV ONE's Breakfast that people can develop "para-social" relationships with the fictional characters which "means you relate to them as you relate to people you know".
Viewers even go through a sort of grieving process when their favourite show ends.
She said fans experience "a type of mild grieving, (and) a sense of emptiness".
"Outrageous Fortune has been a fantastic case," she said.
"We've studied why people go to the exhibit (at Auckland War Memorial Museum) and what purpose this serves for them to come to terms with the end of Outrageous Fortune and the ending of their relationships."
The behaviour of characters also has an effect on viewers. Russell said in most cases viewers pick the positive aspects of their favourite characters, but bad habits can be picked up too.
"One of the things I'm interested in is how teenagers learn things that can be potentially detrimental to their lives from watching shows which have a lot of alcohol, drugs, those sort of things," she said.
"People who are very vulnerable to those influences can adopt these sort of things."
But Russell said in the most part the close attachment viewers have to characters is a positive thing.
"It could become unhealthy if it replaces real healthy relationships, but often it's really healthy because it's a way to connect to other viewers of the show."
Russell will be discussing her research at a free lecture this evening at 7pm at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Do you identify with your favourite television characters? If so which ones? Have your say on the messageboard below.
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