The "Van Paradox:" a hypothesis about the perception of accessibility of those who become more distant
I think I have stumbled upon something that hasn't necessarily been written about before, which is why I'm calling it, for now, the Van Paradox. I think it's important to note that this is a hypothesis, and far from an established psychological phenomenon.
The premise is simple:
We might perceive someone as more accessible than they are, based on some point in the past where they indeed were accessible.
My working metaphor is a forest. The general audience is the soil, from which grow trees that are public figures of some sort. Since the trees grew from the same soil, they are similar in some ways. When they are small treelets, their branches are within reach. You can interact with them, see them often, feel that you know them, in a way. Call them "one of us."
But the tree grows, and becomes a towering tree. Their branches become further and further away. The tree becomes more inaccessible, as it should, due to becoming more prominent, more connected, more elevated in terms of social capital or status.
However, the soil remembers the tree as it was. So, the image of a tree that used to be close, but isn't anymore, may linger in the minds of the people who inhabit the forest.
Meaning that someone who was relatively accessible five years ago may be perceived as equally accessible despite obvious signs that they aren't.
Do you think that the same can be said for people?
I think that, potentially, two people can be perceived as occupying different spots on the accessibility spectrum, due to the interaction between them. For example, if a relatively accessible person manages to interview or interact with another person, who is perceived by others as very inaccessible, the audience may remember the interaction and subsequently perceive the inaccessible person as being slightly more accessible than they were before, just because they saw a familiar face manage to reach them. Sort of like if you're in a forest, and you see two trees that are far from each other, but their branches manage to meet, thus bridging the gap between them. Not necessarily in a conscious way.
I think there are three manifestations of this phenomenon:
The temporal lag , where the perception of someone's accessibility is delayed in comparison to their actual status.
The relational lag , where one's perceived accessibility is increased due to their relationship to another person.
The comparative lag , where two people are perceived as being on differing levels of accessibility due to their relative closeness to the public.
I'm using Karan Aujla, Samay Raina, Raj Shamani and Vijay Mallya as examples right now, but am doing so very selectively. I think it's important to make that distinction.
I'm asking you, if this is something that has been written about previously, or if I have merely discovered a new way of talking about parasocial relationships/interaction, social distance, perceived accessibility, scarcity, or other similar concepts.
Would love to see your views on this concept.