Discuss one or more evolutionary explanations for the attraction of celebrity. (4+6) Flashcards
Evolutionary Explanations
Gossip Theory, Ornamental Mind Theory
Gossip theory
refers to exchanging information about someone who is not present - our ancestors in the EEA lived in much smaller and more isolated social groups than we do now - knowing what was happening in the social group gave both a reproductive and survival advantage - those who were good at gossiping would therefore have been more likely to pass on their genes, giving rise to a ‘genetic hardwiring’ for gossip nowadays - However, evolution did not prepare us to distinguish between people who have genuine effects on our lives and images in the media - the familiarity with celebrities provided by the media trips our gossip modules, celebrities with high status, successful and wealthy remind us of the high status individuals our ancestors would have gossiped about
Dunbar
suggests that another function for celebrity gossip is to act like grooming in primates. Not only does grooming have health benefits, it also helps to bond social groups together
De Backer
her survey of 838 ppts and in-depth interview with 103 found that older people were interested in celebrity gossip because it helped them to form social networks with other people - also found that younger ppts showed interest in celebrity gossip even if it was about celebrities who were a lot older than them and even when they did not know the celebrities, showed greatest interest in internationally known celebrities
Holt and Lewis
argue that gossip appears to be universal - universality suggests that the tendency to gossip is hardwired rather than dependent on culture
Ornamental Mind theory
Neophilia = attraction to novelty, our ancestors would have had to amuse each other and neophilia would have led to ever more creative displays from potential mates. Music, art and humour are highly valued by humans, particularly during mate choice
Miller
argues that sexual selection might favour minds prone to inventing imaginative fantasies
Fisher
‘runaway’ sexual selection theory - females will choose mates to mate with based on characteristics they find most attractive - both this male trait and the preference of the female will be passed on to the next generation - as a result they both become fixed in the gene pool, the increasingly attractive male trait being selected by more females attracted to it - this male trait may have no survival value and be nothing more than an accessory desirable to females
Shiraishi et al
found that a genetic variant or the brain enzyme MAOA correlated with novelty seeking tendencies. This indirectly supports ornamental mind theory: if neophilia is an evolved tendency, there would have to be differences in the genes which code for relevant brain ‘hardware’
Duck
the importance of neophilia is supported as Duck found that boredom is often cited as a reason for ending romantic relationships. It follows from Millers’ ideas that creative individuals would be more successful attracting mates
Nettle and Clegg
found that serious artists and poets had significantly more sexual partners over the course of their lives than people who were either art/poerty hobbyists or than those who did not produce art or poetry at all
Holt and Lewis
over two thirds of the readerships of celebrity gossip magazines is female - importance of neophilia is mate selection, the fact that females tend to be the ‘choosier’ sex and the greater female interest in celebrities, taken together, support the theory
Limitation of OM theory
some people are attracted to celebrities with no particular talent
