Cynthia Hoffner

Cynthia Hoffner

Cynthia Hoffner is a communication researcher and first author of the 2005 Media Psychology study of wishful identification with television characters.

Who they are

Hoffner led the study with Martha Buchanan. They surveyed 208 young adults about favourite fictional television characters and measured wishful identification, which is wanting to be like or act like a character.

Identification was stronger with characters of the same gender and with characters seen as similar in attitudes. It was a correlational survey. The article on villains uses it to show that attraction to characters who resemble us has long been observed.

Key papers

Hoffner, C. and Buchanan, M. (2005), Media Psychology 7(4), 325-351.

Key ideas

People identify more with characters who seem similar.

Wishful identification is a matter of wanting to be like a character.

Sources

  1. Hoffner, C. and Buchanan, M. (2005), Media Psychology 7(4), 325-351.