Celebrity

Question 1

What is a celebrity?

Answer 1

A person of distinction or fame

Question 2

Social psychological explanations of celebrity attraction

Answer 2

Celebrities act as role models because we identify with them. They are also a source of vicarious reinforcement

Question 3

Social psychological explanations of celebrity attraction (groups)

Answer 3

1. Social identity theory - membership of fan clubs and shared admiration for certain celebrities contributed to our social identity. The attraction of celebrity is that it is a means to define your social group and therefore yourself
2. Group cohesion - celebrities provide a common topic to talk about that helps build up social networks. It is safer to gossip about celebrities than about the people you know.
3. Leadership - groups of people search for leaders, and celebrities may fulfil that function

Question 4

People may form parasocial relationships with relationships (socio cultural exp)

Answer 4

Over time a parasocial relationship can develop between viewers and characters of the media; the viewer can become interested in aspects of the character’s life. This relationship is usually one sided as the celebrity often doesn’t know the fan exists

Question 5

What determines the likelihood of a parasocial relationship?

Answer 5

Schiappa carried out a meta analysis and found that parasocial relationships tended to be with celebrities who were seen as attractive and similar in some way to the viewer.

Question 6

Absorption addiction model

Answer 6

Maltby identified three different types of celebrity worship

1. Entertainment social - keeping up with news about them
2. Intense personal -intense feeling (considering them to be their soul mate)
3. Borderline pathological - uncontrollable fantasies. Somebody claiming they would die for their favourite celebrity and their celebrity would be pleased to see them

Question 7

Absorption addiction model links to mental health

Answer 7

Maltby found that the intense personal levels was associate with neuroticism, this trait links with depression so it explains why those who display high levels of celebrity worship have poorer mental health

Question 8

Evaluation of para social relationships

Answer 8

Having a parasocial relationship isn’t particularly bad. There is little chance of face to face contact and rejection
According to derrick et al - such relationships can allow people with low self esteem to see themselves in a better light

Question 9

Problems with celebrity attraction research

Answer 9

• self reports

- cultural bias - most research is westernised

Question 10

Support for social learning

Answer 10

Maltby found young girls who looked up yo thin celebrities were more likely to develop anorexia

Question 11

Evolutionary explanations

Answer 11

Miller suggests that sexual selection underlies the evolution of creative intelligence. Celebrities often display creative talents and represent a world of fantasy and so become attractive. Females are inclined to select males who are most entertaining and interesting - this can support how the attraction of celebrities is explained

Question 12

Further evolutionary explanations

Answer 12

Being boring towards a partner makes attraction a failure. Miller states, a creative and entertaining mind can have benefits. Thus celeb attractiveness is achieved through traits such as how creative and entertaining they may be. Evolution seems to have singled out these traits as important for securing a mate. And as a result, we aspire to imitate celebrities for the reproductive advantage

Question 13

Support for evolutionary explanations

Answer 13

Townsend found both sexes agreed that males’ sexual attractiveness depended not then females’ sexual attractiveness on their status.

Question 14

Evolutionary theory - Gossip

Answer 14

We have a celeb fascination because they are a rich source of gossip. Gossip appears universal in human being as we all love taking about others. Shared secrets and gossip helps bond social groups. It gives individuals with no status or power an opportunity to feel involved and be socially successful in the environment

Question 15

Support for gossip

Answer 15

Dunbar suggests that gossip has evolved in humans for the same reasons as grooming in primates as its a route to social communication and helps bonding

Question 16

Problems with evolutionary explanations

Answer 16

Reductionist

Biased - homosexual

Question 17

Intense fandom is

Answer 17

Celebrity worship and stalking

Question 18

Celebrity worship

Answer 18

Celebrity worship is measured using Maltby’s celebrity attitude scale
Found that in a sample of 372 people aged 18/47
15% were entertainment social
5% intense personal
2% borderline pathological

Question 19

Celebrity worship and well being

Answer 19

Maltby conducted that celebrity worshippers have lower levels of psychological well being than non worshippers
Data from 307 U.K. adults identified that scored on the intense personal subscale predicted both depression and anxiety scores, which they concluded resulted from failed attempts to escape from the pressures of every day life

Question 20

Celebrity worship and self esteem

Answer 20

Cheung + Yue also found that teenagers who worshipped key family members or teachers tended to demonstrate higher levels of self esteem and educational achievement than teenagers who worshipped TV stars
Admiration of those who provide tangible benefits and inputs to the adolescents’ lives would be more likely to provide a greater positive impact than those celebrities with won they enjoy only a parasocial relationship

Question 21

Negative consequences of celebrity worship

Answer 21

Phillips has shown that high profile celeb studies are often followed by increased numbers of suicides among the general population

Question 22

Stalking

Answer 22

Stalking involves repeated and persistent attempts to impose unwanted communication and contact on another person
Celebrity stalking constitutes only around 1% of stalking cases

Question 23

There are 2 types of stalkers

Answer 23

One develops a love obsession with someone they’ve never met. These people suffer from delusional thought

The second type is more common and is distinguished by a previous personal relationship that exists before the stalker behaviour began

Question 24

Theories of stalking

Answer 24

Attachment theory
Suggests that early attachment problems can lead to social and emotional problems later in adulthood

Absorption addiction
A weak sense of identity in people will lead them to be absorbed with a celebrity and develop closeness with him or her. This produces a state of addiction where the individual craves greater closeness to their celebrity and indulges in delusional forms of behaviour

Question 25

Support for attachment theory of stalking

Answer 25

Tonin measured stalkers childhood attachment styles and their current adult attachment using self report measured. She found that stalkers had more insecure adult attachment styles which suffers childhood determinism

Research has also found a positive correlation between insecure resistant attachment types and attempts at contacting favourite celebrities

Question 26

Support for absorption addiction model of stalking

Answer 26

Mullen striker 20,000 cases of stalking involving members or the Royal family and found that 80% had serious mental health disorders. Indicated a link between stalking and a confused sense of identity

Question 27

Relational goal pursuit theory of stalking

Answer 27

People who engage in the obsessional pursuit of relationship that is rejected by the other person tend to magnify the importance of their relationship goal
Fans constantly think about the unmet goal and the thoughts become more unpleasant. Excess pursuit behaviour are rationalised and negative consequences not recognised

Question 28

Celebrity stalking may become more common because of

Answer 28

Cyber stalking (sending unwanted texts and emails) 
Fisher and Cullen surveyed 4000 female undergraduate and found that 13% had been cyberstalked

Question 29

Criticisms of cyberstalking

Answer 29

Alex’s et al gave students brief descriptions of a real life case of cyberstalking. This case resulted in prosecution but only 30% of the students judged the behaviour to be dangerous

Question 30

Religiosity and celebrity culture

Answer 30

There seems to be a link between the decline in religious worship and increasing fascination with celebrity culture. According to schumaker “humans have a fundamental need to worship” this shift in faith is illustrated by the fact that over 390000 people stayed their religion as Jedi in the UK 2001 census