Formation of Parasocial Relationships with the Antagonist Characters of TV Series among Russian Youth

The present study is devoted to the process of forming parasocial relationships with the antagonists of television series among representatives of Russian youth. The study illustrates the problem that in studies focusing on the formation of parasocial relationships with the antagonists of TV series, there is a contradiction in understanding the motives underlying the formation of parasocial relationships. So, on the one hand, it is believed that the viewer forms a parasocial relationship with the antagonist character, even with antisocial behavior, due to the needs for identification, a sense of intimacy and interest. On the other hand, many researchers argue that the formation and strengthening of parasocial relationships with antagonists occurs through active observation, in other words, when viewing content related to the character and viewer activity through being on thematic platforms and fandoms. The main purpose of the study is to study the processes of formation of parasocial relationships with antagonists of television series among representatives of Russian youth, and in particular to understand the internal motives for which young people decide to enter into a parasocial relationship with such a character. The empirical part of this research work is a qualitative study, namely a series of in-depth interviews with representatives of Russian youth. In a preliminary way, a selection of TV series with an obvious confrontation between the antagonist and the main character was developed. The data obtained during in-depth interviews were analyzed using the grounded theory method: at the first stage, the key quotes of respondents from all interviews were highlighted, then the key meanings for each quote were highlighted and codes were assigned to them, which were further combined into general theoretical categories corresponding to the research plan and theoretical framework. The conclusion of the work describes the conclusions, limitations, as well as recommendations for the media industries on using the image of an antagonist for their advertising purposes. Keywords: parasocial relationships, parasocial interaction, antagonist, media platform.