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Two Data Collection Phases of the Twilight Saga
For the Love of a Vampire: Do Internal Representations of Attachment to Romantic Partners Influence
Self-Selected Exposure to Twilight Saga Media Across Two Difference Phases of Data Collection?
Alexandria Kinder
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD
Nichole Egerton
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD
Abstract
Within this study we conducted two phases of data collection in Spring of 2010 and Fall 2011 that
focused on individual’s amount of exposure to the Twilight Saga media and their representation of
attachment to romantic partners. Previous research has found that adults create parasocial relationships,
or one-sided emotional relationships with media personalities (Horton & Wohl, 1956), which can be
studied via attachment models (see Gardner & Knowles, 2008; Greenwood, Pietromonaco, & Long,
2008). College level students in emerging adulthood (N=416) were asked to fill out online
questionnaires, which assessed their level of self-selected exposure to the Twilight Saga novels and
films and individual’s representations of attachment to romantic partners in their real life. We found a
significant relationship with attachment and exposure relationships with upper-division students in
spring 2010 (r= .219, p=.027), but not with introductory students in fall 2011. We suggest that this
difference exists due to the peak in the popularity of the social media. This finding for upper-division
students was only for Anxiety, but not Avoidant attachment scores, suggesting that individuals who
chose higher levels of exposure to the Twilight Saga, and its romantic storylines, earlier in the
phenomenon’s popularity were also more likely to report higher levers of psychologically undesirable
levels of real-life expectations involving fear of rejection and abandonment. There was also more
exposure among female students than male across the entire sample. We did find a relationship between
attachment and exposure, but it was not what we predicted, therefore we will explore the implications of
these findings as they relate to media, attachment, and parasocial interaction theory.
Mentor: Lance C. Garmon, PhD., Department of Psychology, Salisbury University
Two Data Collection Phases of the Twilight Saga
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Introduction
Since the release of the initial book of this series in 2005, the Twilight Saga has sold more than 116 million copies
worldwide (Meyer, 2013). Each of the novels chronicling the love triangle of the human adolescent Bella, the ageless
vampire Edward, and the werewolf Jacob, has subsequently been translated into movies that opened to tremendous
international box office, if not critical, success. What remains unexplored, however, are the messages the audience actually
takes away from the series.
In a series of studies to better understand how emerging adult students are selecting and perceiving the books and films,
we examined relationships between their representations of attachment avoidance and anxiety and levels of self-selected
exposure to the Twilight Saga. Our study contributes to the growing understanding of the role media plays in the lives of
emerging adults as well as the extent to which investment in the Twilight Saga both influences, and is influenced by, the
romantic scripts of young adults as evidenced by their internal working models of attachment.
Mass Media Effects Theory
 Mass media effect theories help to explain the diverse motivations for adolescents’ and emerging adults’ self-selected
exposure to media phenomena such as the Twilight Saga.
 The Uses and Gratification Approach (see Rubin, 1994) proposes that people should be viewed as active consumers
and interpreters of media. In short, people choose and use media to gratify individual needs or wants (Katz, et al.,
1973), and the messages they take away are filtered through each person’s specific social and psychological
circumstances (Rubin,).
 Arnett (1995) proposes that media serve five basic uses for young people: entertainment, identity formation, high
sensation, coping, and youth culture identification. In short, social and psychological needs lead people to choose
particular media sources and levels of exposure that meet their needs.
 In addition to the broad Uses and Gratification approach, Jane Brown and colleagues (Brown et al., 2002) developed
the Media Practice Model that proposes an active model of adolescent media consumption in which adolescents’
identities influence the media sources to which they attend (e.g., NPR or MTV, Pride and Prejudice or Twilight).
 If, as expected, some individuals choose to consume the Twilight Saga multiple times, in both book and film formats,
we propose that one factor in that consumption is their romantic identity formation.
Parasocial Interactions and Attachment Theory
 Parasocial relationships reflect the degree to which an individual emotionally connects to fictional media personas and
embraces any presentation of these characters.
 Research findings suggest that the stronger parasocial relationship an individual has with the personae in any form of
media entertainment, the more motivated that person will be to choose to consume media experiences involving those
personae (Klimmt et al., 2006).
 Parasocial relationships are normative and psychologically healthy (Greenwood & Long, 2009; Theran, Newberg &
Gleason, 2010).
 Originally based on the work of Hazen and Shaver (1987), this assessment of attachment beyond early childhood relies
heavily on personal and social psychology and incorporates attachment relationships beyond those with parents, such
as relationships to peers and romantic partners.
 The dimension of avoidant attachment includes the level of distrust and emotional distance one maintains in a
relationship, while anxious attachment includes the level of need and effort to gain the partner’s attention (Shaver &
Mikulincer, 2012).
 The current study expands upon previous research, which has supported a relationship between parasocial interactions
and representations of attachment (Greenwood., Pietromonaco, & Long, 2008), by exploring possible interactions
between representations of interpersonal attachment and the extent of self-selected exposure of participants to the
Twilight Saga.
 Building specifically upon Sprecher and Fehr’s (2010) recent work associating lower anxiety and avoidant attachment
scores with an increased expression of compassionate love with actual romantic partners, we predicted individuals
higher in both types of attachment scores would select higher levels of exposure to the parasocial romantic
protagonists portraying the fictional love story within the Twilight Saga.
Hypothesis:
 Exposure to the Twilight Series books and movies will have a relationship with attachment.
 There is a difference between the exposure to the Twilight Series for men and women.
 Age doesn’t play a factor in the amount of times exposed to the Twilight Series.
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Two Data Collection Phases of the Twilight Saga
Methods
Our data was collected over two phases, (see Table 1). The first phase consisted of upper level division students (juniors
and seniors) at a medium-sized university during the Spring of 2010. The second phase was done at the same university
among undergraduate psychology students (freshmen and sophomores) during the Fall of 2011.
 The students were asked to complete an online questionnaire with full enclosure of their demographics and familiarity
with the Twilight saga. The data collection for the first phase occurred after all four books had been published as well as
two of the five movies being released. Data collection for the second phase occurred after all four books had been
published as well as four of the five movies being released.
Participants
 Between both phases there was more female participation than males, ages ranging from 18 to 25 years of age (see
Table 1).
 Of the 106 males in the study about 59 (50%) reported that they had not been exposed to the Twilight Saga. In
contrast, of the 317 females only about 51 (16%) had not been exposed.

Table 1: Research Participant's Information for both Phases

Phase ANOVAs
All (Phase 1 & Phase 2)
(n = 417)
Phase 1 (Spring 2010)
(n = 104)
Phase 2 (Fall 2011)
(n = 313)
College Experience
All Students
Primarily Upper division
Primarily 1st semester
Class Year
M = 1.86SD = 1.02
M = 3.14
SD = .77
M = 1.43
SD = .68
464.34***
Age
M = 19.23
SD = 1.372
M = 20.83
SD = 1.368
M = 18.70
SD = 0.870
342.70***
GPA
M = 3.30
SD = 0.54
M = 3.04
SD = 0.54
M = 3.39
SD = 0.50
35.67***
Females
n = 313
n = 89
n = 224
N/A
Males
n = 104
n = 15
n = 89
N/A
Anxiety
M = 3.17
SD = 1.22
M = 3.18
SD = 1.32
M = 3.17
SD = 1.20
ns
Avoidance
M = 2.91
SD = 1.15
M = 2.80
SD = 1.09
M = 2.95
SD = 1.17
ns
Book Exposure
M = 5.54
SD = 5.21
M = 5.00
SD = 3.73
M = 5.73
SD = 5.61
66.717
Movie Exposure
M = 6.05
SD = 6.11
M = 2.13
SD = 2.18
M = 7.35
SD = 6.44
4.311
Total Media Exposure
M = 11.06
SD = 10.07
M = 7.135
SD = 4.89
M = 13.09
SD = 11.01
102.696
F
Students
Gender
Attachment
Media Exposure
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
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Two Data Collection Phases of the Twilight Saga
Measures
 Demographic Questionnaire The online demographic included items assessing sex, age, education, and marital status.
 Twilight Saga Exposure:The online questionnaire asked the participant blank questions. The estimated time it would
take to complete the survey was close to twenty five minutes. We asked the number of times the participant had been
exposed to each individual book and movie, and how many times. Self-perceived influence of exposure had four
different categories.
o No real influence at all. This is all just fantasy
o It's unrealistic. The level of love and commitment in Bella and Edward's relationship is unattainable in real life
o It has shown me the type of true love and strong commitment I would like to have in my own romantic relationships.
o I often found myself fantasizing about having a relationship with one of the main characters.
 Adult Attachment: Participants also completed the Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (ECR-R; Fraley,
Waller, & Brennan, 2000) measure assessing their representations of attachment in romantic partnerships. The ECR-R is
a 36-item self-report questionnaire wherein participants are asked to respond to items assessing their level of emotional
intimacy in relationships using a 7-point Likert scale where 1 = “strongly disagree” and 7 = “strongly agree.”
o Two continuous scores are produced reflecting Anxious and Avoidant insecurity such that lower scores reflect more
secure internal representations of attachment.



Results
Correlation analysis were conducted with three exposure variables (total, books, movies) accounting for both gender and
phase. The only significant finding was for women in 2010 for anxious attachment and book exposure, r(70) = .246, p =
.04.
A Chi Square analysis found significantly higher exposure for females than males. χ 2(1, N = 417) =56.45, p > .001 (See
Graph 1)
A series of one way ANOVAs found significant differences between Phases 1 and 2 for Class Year, Age, and GPA (see
Table 1)
A series of one way ANOVAs revealed significantly different attachment scores for individuals selecting different self
perceived influences of The Twilight Saga (See Graph 2).
o Anxious attachment scores were lowest for those who selected true love influence.
o Avoidant attachment scores were lowest for those who selected no real influence.
Graph 1: Have you ever read any of the books or
watched any of the movies in the Twilight Saga?
Number Of Research Participants

Exposure Yes
Exposure No
Female
Male
Gender
Female
263
50
Gender
Male
49
55
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Two Data Collection Phases of the Twilight Saga
Graph 2: Influence Anova
Mean Attachement Score
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
No Real
Influence
It's
Unrealisic
True Love
.Myself
Fantasizing
Influence





attachment anxiety, F(3, 322)
= 5.697, p = .001
2.94
3.67
3.24
3.63
attachment avoidance, F(3,
322) = 3.188, p = .024
2.9
3.27
2.68
3.2
Discussion
Throughout this study we realized that we needed to define exposure. We came to the conclusion that Exposure can
be defined as how many times one individual watches or reads the Twilight Saga.
Attachment among young adults to their romantic partners and their self-selected exposure found that
o Anxiety Attachment was significant but Avoidant Attachment was not
o Book exposure was only significant among females in Spring 2010
The Twilight Saga was more popular among Phase 2 (Fall 2011), than Phase 1 (Spring 2010)
o This turn in popularity could be due to the excitement over the Twilight Saga peaking after the release of
the first two Twilight movies (2008, 2009)
Representations of attachment was related to self perceived influence
Partial support was found for the Uses and Gratification Approach (Rubin, 1994)
o Gender, and possibly representation of attachment, influence media selection
o Representation of attachment also influences perception of media events
Two Data Collection Phases of the Twilight Saga
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