Media

Question 1

What is anti-social behaviour?

Answer 1

Any behaviour that involves harming another

Question 2

What is pro-social behaviour?

Answer 2

Any behaviour carried out selflessly for the benefit of another

Question 3

Is it disputed that the media does affect our behaviour?

Answer 3

No

Question 4

What are the two explanations of media influences on behaviour?

Answer 4

SLT

Sensitisation and desensitization

Question 5

How can SLT explain the effects of the media on both pro and anti social behaviour?

Answer 5

Watches an aggressive or pro social act on tv
Retains the act
Imitates the aggressive or pro social act
Continues the act if motivated to do so or stops it if punished

Question 6

What three factors will affect the likelihood of imitation of the aggressive or pro social act?

Answer 6

Vicarious reinforcement- more likely to imitate if the character is positively reinforced
Similarity- more lovely to imitate a characters we perceive to be similar to us
Self efficacy- we only imitate acts we feel capable of executing
Use examples

Question 7

What evaluation points are there for SLT as an explanation of media on ANTI SOCIAL behaviour?

Answer 7

Bandura’s bobo doll study
Deterministic
Nurture side

Question 8

Describe Bandura’s bobo doll study to evaluate SLT

Answer 8

Group 1&2- nursery school children, saw an unknown adult enter the room and started playing quietly but then attacked the bobo doll, punching kicking and saying “hit him down” and “pow”. Taken to another room and told they couldn’t play with those toys as they were for better children, 3rd room contained many toys and a bobo doll.
Group 3&4 watched the aggressive act on a film
Group 5 watched Herman the cat
Group 6 were the control group

Question 9

What were the findings of Bandura’s bobo doll study to evaluate SLT as an explanation of media on antisocial behaviour?

Answer 9

Groups 3-5 are of most interest when considering the effect of media. Children of groups 1-5 were found to mimic the behaviour they had seen using the moves and phrases they’d seen. Groups 1-5 didn’t show different levels of aggression but significantly more than group 6. The children were influenced by the gender as imitation was more likely if the gender of the person was the same as themselves.

Question 10

What were the conclusions of Bandura’s bobo doll study that supports SLT causing anti social behaviour?

Answer 10

Children are prone to imitate behaviours regardless of whether their role model is standing in front of them or on screen
Supports SLT as an explanation of how the media can influence anti social behaviour including when the character is a cartoon

Question 11

How is SLT as an explanation for antisocial behaviour deterministic?

Answer 11

Implies that if a person watched a violent act on tv carried out my a similar, admired role model who is positively reinforced for the aggression, the viewer will imitate it
This is clearly not the case as many acts of violence are shown everyday and the vast majority don’t imitate it

Question 12

How does SLT to explain antisocial behaviour take the nurture side of the nature nurture debate?

Answer 12

Completely ignores the role of biology- there’s some suggestion to say that naturally aggressive people are attracted to violent tv

Question 13

What is media?

Answer 13

Magazines, newspapers, books, internet, film, tv and video games

Question 14

What research study supports the role of SLT in pro social behaviour?

Answer 14

Sprafkin et al

Question 15

Describe Sprafkin et al’s study

Answer 15

There were 3 experimental conditions and 6 year old children were participants.
Group 1- watched an episode of Lassie where a boy risks his life to rescue a puppy from a mine shaft.
Group 2- watched an episode of Lassie in which no help was involved.
Group 3- watched an episode of a sit-com called ‘The Brady Bunch.’
If SLT was correct, we would expect the children in group 1 to show pro social behaviour when given the chance.
After watching the videos, the children had the chance to help some distressed puppies (but to do so they had to stop playing a game where they had the chance to win a big prize.)

Question 16

What were the findings of Sprafkin et al’s study?

Answer 16

Children in group 1 sent an average of over 90 seconds helping the puppies, compared with under 50 seconds by the children who had watched the other programmes. SLT explains this as the children observed another child helping puppies, retained this and reproduced it when given the chance.

Question 17

Evaluate SLT further as an explanation of pro social behaviour

Answer 17

Nurture side of the nature nurture debate as the children in Sprafkin et al’s study would have other influences in their lives besides the video. It could be that the children from group 1 were brought up to be more pro social.
This evidence for SLT are based on controlled observations that lack ecological validity.

Question 18

Define desensitisation

Answer 18

A reduction in the experience of distress when confronted with observations or thoughts of violence. We experience an unpleasant emotional response when we see people hurt. Our empathy stops us from acting aggressively. Desensitisation can occur if aggressive acts are repeatedly viewed. This stops them feeling empathy for the victim of aggression. Repeated exposure to aggression, makes us more likely to behave aggressively.

Question 19

Define sensitisation

Answer 19

This involves the viewers feeling empathy for characters and wanting to help. Empathy can be fostered through showing others helping those in distressing situations as it shows the distressing situation to be something that shouldn’t be happening. Highly empathic children have been found to display more pro social acts and so watching pro social acts may help children’s empathy development.

Question 20

What evaluation points are there as desensitisation of media influence on anti-social behaviour?

Answer 20

Cline et al
Drabman and Thomas
Mullin and Linz

Question 21

Describe Cline et al’s study to evaluate desensitisation

Answer 21

Exposed children and adults to mild scenes of violence and measured their arousal level. Arousal declined over time and the more violence participants watched, the less arousal response they showed when presented with a new scene of violence.

Question 22

Describe Drabman et al’s study to evaluate desensitisation

Answer 22

They showed children aged 8-10 a video and then placed them in a situation in which they saw younger children apparently fighting. Those who had seen the violent video took significantly longer to break up the fight.

Question 23

Describe Mullin and Linz’s study

Answer 23

Questioned adult males about their response to sexual and domestic violence and then showed them violent pornography. Three days later their attitudes were assessed again and they showed significantly less empathy with female victims of violence. 2 days later, their attitudes returned to the same level as at the start of the study. Is questionable as to how long term violent media is on behaviour and the extent to which it should be censored.

Question 24

What are the evaluation points for sensitisation on pro social behaviour?

Answer 24

Issue with Sprafkin et al
Lacks direct evidence
Shelton and Rogers

Question 25

What is the issue with Sprafkin et al’s study?

Answer 25

The children may have been sensitised to the suffering of the puppies by watching it and felt more empathy when presented with suffering puppies themselves- it may not have been them imitating their behaviour.

Question 26

Why is a limitation of media on pro social behaviour that it lacks direct evidence?

Answer 26

There are a lack of studies demonstrating that exposure to pro social behaviour in the media directly leads to higher levels of empathy in children.

Question 27

Describe Shelton and Rogers’ study

Answer 27

Showed participants a video of industrial whaling and footage of pro social anti whaling environmental action. They found that this had the effect of enhancing empathy for whales. However, studies like this are quite far removed for the situation psychologists are more concerned with- whether the media can be used to develop long-term patterns of pro social behaviour in children and young people.

Question 28

What is the rationale of the negative effects of video games on behaviour?

Answer 28

This argument is based on the finding that many computer games are overtly aggressive. Computer games have become increasingly realistic in their graphics. This differs from violent tv and films as requires active participation.

Question 29

What is the evidence for the violent content in video games that gives the rationale for negative effects on behaviour?

Answer 29

Content analysis of computer games have shown that the majority of computer games are violent in nature. Hanninger and Thompson examined 80 computer games aimed at teenagers and found that 94% contained some form of violence.

Question 30

What experimental research was carried out into the negative effects of video games on behaviour?

Answer 30

Konijn et al carried out a study on 112 Dutch boys aged 12-16 years who were randomly allocated to one of three conditions. In one condition they played a realistic violent video game; in a second they played a violent fantasy game and in the third they played a non violent game. After 20 minutes they were told they were playing against an unseen partner. There was no opponent and they were told that they had won. Aggression was measured by the noise level they chose to give- the extent to which they identified with the game character was also measured. It was found that the boys who had taken part in the realistic violent video games averaged the highest level of noise. Within this group, boys who had identified most strongly with the aggressor gave significantly higher noise levels.

Question 31

Evaluate Konijn et al’s study

Answer 31

Low ecological validity as it was carried out in a laboratory which is very different to playing video games in the comfort of your own home and so the study may not be generalisable to the real world.
Unethical because the study essentially created violent tendencies in the boys from condition 1 which was predicted and so could be argued that it was immoral of researchers to put children in a situation which they suspect will make them aggressive.

Question 32

What is the rationale for the positive effects of video games on behaviour?

Answer 32

Not all computer games are aggressive in nature and if computer games really do influence players to the extent indicated by Konijn et al then we would expect a pro social message to lead players to display pro social behaviour.

Question 33

What research evidence has been done into the positive effects of video games on behaviour?

Answer 33

Gentile et al - Participants were 161 American college students with a mean age of 19.2 years. There were 3 conditions: group 1 played a pro social game (Super Mario or Chibi Robo), group 2 played a violent game (Ty 2 or Crash Twin Sanity) and group 3 played a neutral game (Pure Pinball or Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.) The participants played their game for 20 minutes. Pro social behaviour was assessed by pairing the participants with another student, the other student had the opportunity to win $10 if they were able to complete 11 puzzles in 10 minutes. The puzzles were chosen by the participant and were labelled as either easy, medium or hard. The pro social thing to do would be choosing the easiest puzzles. They found that those who played the pro social game chose easier puzzles than those who played the neutral game. And those who played the most violent game chose the hardest puzzles.

Question 34

Evaluate Gentile’s study

Answer 34

Has low ecological validity as the gaming took place in an artificial environment and so were given an artificial task which may have little relevance to every day life and may not be generalisable to the real world.
It is unethical as the violent video game setting creating less desirable qualities in the participant.

Question 35

What is the rationale for the negative effects of computers on behaviour?

Answer 35

If a person is spending time on a computer they are not spending time with their friends and family. For this reason computers have a negative effect on social relationships and lead to feelings of isolation, social withdrawal and isolation.

Question 36

What is the research evidence for the negative effects of computers on behaviour?

Answer 36

Sanders et al used a sample of 89 American high school seniors (17-18 years old) and gave them two questionnaires. The first measures their internet usage; which allowed them to be divided into one of three categories- low users (less than one hour a day), moderate users (1-2 hours a day) and high users (more than 2 hours a day.) The second questionnaire measured their social relationships with both their parents and their peers. It was found that the low users reported better relationships with both their parents and their peers.

Question 37

Evaluate Sanders et al’s study

Answer 37

It is a correlation and so cause and effect cannot be inferred. Although it shows a link between high internet usage and low sociability, it cannot be concluded that low sociability is caused by spending time on the internet. It could be that family and friend relationships were already poor and then caused the students to spend more time on the internet.
The study also does not consider how the internet is being used. As when considering the effects of video games, blanket statements such as ‘all internet usage is detrimental to social relationships’ cannot be made. This is because many activities carried out on the internet are done to maintain existing relationships.

Question 38

What is the rationale for the positive effects of computers on behaviour?

Answer 38

The internet can be used for sociable activities such as planning social events or keeping in contact with friends and family who live some distance away. In such cases it is likely that the internet serves a useful purpose that has a good effect on social relationships.

Question 39

What is the research evidence for the positive effects of computers on behaviour?

Answer 39

Ellison et al carried out a study specifically looking at the effect of facebook on 286 US college students. Measures of demographic variables (age ethnicity gender etc), of internet usage, of facebook usage, of friendship networks (real world) and of psychological well being were taken. They found Facebook was mainly used to maintain existing relationships rather than create virtual relationships which can be seen as a good thing. It was used to enhance the students social life and was also found to be particularly useful for those who were shy and or lonely because it’s easier to interact online than in person.

Question 40

Evaluate Ellison et al’s study

Answer 40

Very low population validity as it was only carried out on US college students.
It only looked at facebook as it means conclusions cannot be assumed about other social network sites.

Question 41

What are the two models for persuasion that you need to know?

Answer 41

The Hovland Yale model

The Elaboration-Likelihood model

Question 42

What are the three factors involved in the Hovland Yale model?

Answer 42

Source factors
Message factors
Audience factors
If these factors are present persuasion is more likely to be effective.

Question 43

Describe source factors in the Hovland Yale model of persuasion

Answer 43

These are based on factors on who is presenting the advert that increase the likelihood of persuasion. These are based on the expertise of the person (experts are more effective at persuading) and attractiveness (people who are likeable, successful and attractive are more successful at persuading.)

Question 44

Describe message factors as part of the Hovland Yale model of persuasion

Answer 44

The content of the message that increase the likelihood of persuasion. Moderate anxiety levels- adverts that instil a little amount of fear or a large amount of fear are not as successful as adverts that instil moderate amounts of fear. This is because if there is too much anxiety the message behind the advert isn’t processed and if there’s not enough the viewer will not take the advertised threat seriously.

Question 45

Describe audience factors as a part of the Hovland Yale model of persuasion

Answer 45

Factors based on the characteristics of the target audience that increase the likelihood of persuasion. There’s a consistent body of evidence to suggest that women are easier to persuade as they have a greater tendency to conform and are more susceptible to social influence. Those with lower intelligence levels are hard to persuade as are less likely to fully understand the message; those with high intelligence levels are more likely to question the message and so those with moderate intelligence levels are easiest to persuade.

Question 46

What studies do you need to evaluate the Hovland Yale model of persuasion?

Answer 46

Bochner and Insko
Witte and Allen
Sistrunk and McDavid
Karabenick

Question 47

Describe Bochner and Insko’s study

Hovland Yale

Answer 47

Students were asked to indicate how much sleep was required to maintain good health. Most said around 8 hours. The students were then exposed to another person to sway their opinion. One was a non expert and one claimed to be a Nobel Prize winning scientist. The students were significantly more likely to be persuaded by the expert, even though he suggested that only 1 hour of sleep per night was necessary. This clearly supports the idea that experts make for effective persuasion.

Question 48

Describe Witte and Allen’s study

Hovland Yale

Answer 48

A content analysis was carried out to determine what made for effective ‘fear campaigns’ (i.e. adverts to illustrate the dangers of smoking, drink driving etc.) It was found that the most successful adverts were those that provided a solution as well as proving fear. Simply by making a viewer scared of their actions will do little to change their behaviour, it will just raise their anxiety levels. In order to reduce anxiety levels, a feasible solution needs to be given.

Question 49

Describe Sistrunk and McDavid’s study

Hovland Yale

Answer 49

Critiqued the gender bias aspect of the model. They claimed that the studies that find women more easily persuaded are because the topics presented to them are more familiar to men than women and so the men were more knowledgeable on how to counter argue the message being presented than women.

Question 50

Describe Karabenick’s study

Hovland Yale

Answer 50

Supported Sistrunk and McDavid’s critique of gender bias. They found men were more influenced by messaged containing feminine content, whereas women were more influenced by masculine content. This means that when gender differences in persuasion are found it is because of methodological bias because the material used have been chosen regardless of the effect that it could have on one gender more than the other.

Question 51

What are the two routes for the elaboration-likelihood model and who presented it?

Answer 51

Petty and Cacioppo said that the key to successful persuasion is to determine whether or not the audience is likely to use central or peripheral processing and to plan advertising accordingly. The two routes are the central and peripheral routes.

Question 52

Describe the central route to persuasion

Answer 52

The message itself is most important. Arguments are followed closely and mental counter arguments may also be made. For a message to be effective via this route, the arguments have to be convincing. If an individual finds a message interesting or personally involving and have the ability to understand the argument presented then they are likely to process a message through this route.

Question 53

Describe the peripheral route to persuasion

Answer 53

Used by individuals who aren’t motivated to think deeply about a message. Individuals who take this route are most likely to be influenced by contextual cues e.g. visual cues, endorsements by celebrities, brand image etc. It is assumed that attitudes acquired through the peripheral route are less stable and more susceptible to change. Messages seen as less important or personally relevant are more likely to be processed through this route.

Question 54

Describe the role of need for cognition to decide which route a message is processed using

Answer 54

Need for cognition is the degree to which people enjoy thinking about information they receive and analysing problems. Those high in need for cognition are assumed to have the tendency to search for, scrutinise and reflect upon information and so are more likely to use the central route. Those low in need for cognition are assumed to rely primarily on the opinions of others and so are more likely to use the peripheral route.

Question 55

What are your evaluation points for the elaboration-likelihood model of persuasion?

Answer 55

Haughtvedt et al
Vidrine et al
Either/or situation

Question 56

Describe Haughtvedt’s study

Elaboration-Likelihood model

Answer 56

Found that attitude change in high NC individuals was based more on an evaluation of product attributes in advertisements than was the case with low NC individuals. For low NC individuals, simple peripheral cues were more important in shaping attitudes.

Question 57

Describe Vidrine et al’s study

Elaboration-Likelihood model

Answer 57

Measured need for cognition among 227 college students who were required to evaluate a fact based (central route) or emotion based (peripheral route) smoking pamphlet. Among participants with higher NC, the fact based messaged produced the greatest increase in risk perception, whereas among participants with low NC, the emotion based message produced the greatest change.

Question 58

Describe how the Elaboration-Likelihood model presenting an either/or situation is a limitation

Answer 58

The model says that we either do central processing or peripheral processing but not both. It is more sensible to think of processing on a continuum. It is more logical to think that people consider both the message and the peripheral features rather than describing someone who ignores one feature completely to focus on the other.

Question 59

What is the most effective form of media when it comes to persuasion?

Answer 59

TV

Question 60

How does social learning theory affect the likelihood of persuasion?

Answer 60

We observe and imitate our role models and so if we see our favourite celebrity drinking Pepsi, we want to drink Pepsi too.

Question 61

How does classical conditioning affect the likelihood of persuasion?

Answer 61

We make association between products and nice things such as a car being driven through stunning scenery.

Question 62

How does using both routes affect the likelihood of persuasion?

Answer 62

As it is difficult to predict whether your audience will take a central or peripheral route to persuasion, you should make sure your advert contains both.

Question 63

What is the social psychological explanation to celebrity attraction?

Answer 63

They provide people with parasocial relationships. A parasocial relationship is one where an individual is attracted to another individual but this individual is unaware of the existence of the person who has created the relationship. This is appealing because they are easy as don’t come with the demands of a ‘real’ relationship. There is also no risk of rejection or criticism as in a normal relationship.

Question 64

Still AO1: what study illustrates parasocial relationship as a social psychological explanation for celebrity attraction?

Answer 64

Shiappa et al carried out meta analysis on studies on parasocial relationships. They found parasocial relationships were more likely when: the celebrity is seen as attractive, the celebrity is seen as being similar to the fan or to how the fan would like to be, the celebrity and their actions are seen as being realistic, the fan is female, the fan is shy and or lonely.

Question 65

What are the evaluation point for the social psychological explanation (parasocial relationships) for celebrity attraction?

Answer 65

Rubin et al
Eyal and Cohen
Reductionist

Question 66

Describe Rubin et al’s study

Celebrity attraction

Answer 66

Questioned that parasocial relationships are dysfunctional and brought about through loneliness. They found that loneliness was not a significant factor in parasocial interaction. Instead, people merely need to perceive a media figure as similar to themselves and real in order to rely upon that figure for companionship. More recent research furthers this idea that parasocial relationships don’t demonstrate social isolation and limited activity and says that people who are socially active and motivated are more likely to engage in such relationships.

Question 67

Describe Eyal and Cohen’s study

Celebrity attraction

Answer 67

The theory of parasocial relationships implies that such relationships are not ‘real’ and are substandard to regular relationships which is not necessarily the case. They assessed viewers’ reactions after the showing of the last ever episode of Friends. The amount of breakup distress shown by viewers was best predicted by the intensity of their parasocial relationship with their favourite character. This mirrors what would happen in a regular relationship and so shows that these relationships shouldn’t be viewed as any different.

Question 68

Describe how the theory of parasocial relationships is reductionist

Answer 68

It oversimplifies matters. There is not really one answer as to why people form attractions to celebrities. For some it may be loneliness, for others admiration of their accomplishments and for others another explanation such as the evolutionary explanation would offer answers.

Question 69

What does the evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction say that women look for in a man and why?

Answer 69

Resources so that he can provide for the child and her. This is because a woman invests more into reproduction than men as they have limited opportunity and time span and risk their health by going through childbirth.

Question 70

What does the evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction say that men look for in a woman and why?

Answer 70

A woman who is fertile, healthy and has good genes- attractiveness and youth are signs of this. This is because men don’t invest as much into reproduction.

Question 71

What are the implications of the features that women and men look for according to the evolutionary explanation?

Answer 71

Females should be most attracted to male celebrities who command high levels of resources (money.) Men should be most attracted to female celebrities who are fertile shown by youth and attractiveness. These preferences may lead to celebrity attraction as in real life compromises must be made based on their own attractiveness levels and their actual choices but with celebrities these compromises aren’t necessary.

Question 72

What are your evaluation points for the evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction?

Answer 72

Waynforth and Dunbar
Interesting insights
Other ways of interpreting research findings
Doesn’t explain why people choose one celebrity

Question 73

Describe Waynforth and Dunbar’s study

Evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction

Answer 73

Content analysis of lonely hearts advertisements and found that women were more likely to advertise youth and beauty and men were more likely to advertise wealth and resources. Women were more likely to seek wealth and resources and resources whereas men are more likely to seek youth and beauty.

Question 74

Describe how the evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction offers interesting insights

Answer 74

The fact fans are entirely free to choose their favourite fantasy sexual partner from hundreds or thousands of celebrities mean we can see their genuine preferences freed from the constraints of every day reality. The evidence is consistent with the notion that female celebrities are attractive to men based on internal features whereas male fans focus on the external features of female celebrities.

Question 75

Describe how there are other ways of interpreting research from the evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction

Answer 75

Women’s preferences for men who are culturally successful and wealthy could be explained by their desire to have a mate and provide for their children but it could also be that they don’t want children and they simply want to be able to buy whatever they want for themselves.

Question 76

Describe how the evolutionary explanation of celebrity attraction doesn’t indicate why a person chooses one celebrity

Answer 76

A fan generally focusses on one celebrity but not numerous others who are equally attractive sexually. It doesn’t provide a clear explanation of why many people have no strong attraction to any celebrity.

Question 77

What is the research you need to know into intense fandom: celebrity worship?

Answer 77

Maltby et al

Question 78

Describe Maltby’s aims and procedure

Answer 78

To test the assumption that celebrity worship is accompanied by poorer psychological wellbeing.
They administered the Celebrity Attitude Scale and the General Health Questionnaire to an opportunity 126 men (mean age 26.97 years) and 181 women (mean age 27.67) from work places and community groups in South Yorkshire. The CAS measures attitude to celebrities on three subscales: the entertainment (social dimension)- the extent that celebrities entertain; the intense (personal dimension)- the extent to which we are emotionally attached to celebrities) and the borderline (pathological dimension)- irrational beliefs towards celebrities. The GHQ was designed to reveal symptoms of poor psychological health.

Question 79

What were the findings and conclusions of Maltby’s study?

Answer 79

Scores on the entertainment social subscale of the CAS correlated positively with social dysfunction, anxiety and depression scores from the GHQ.
Scores on the intense-personal and boreline-pathological subscales correlated positively with anxiety and depression scores.
The significant relationship between celebrity worship and poorer psychological wellbeing is the result of failed attempts to escape, cope or enhance individual’s daily life. This conclusion holds even for the initial stages of celebrity worship that do not appear pathological.

Question 80

What are your evaluation points for Maltby’s study into intense fandom: celebrity worship?

Answer 80

Ethical issues
Methodological issues
Conclusions may not be valid

Question 81

Why does Maltby’s study have ethical issues?

Answer 81

Because of the sensitive nature of the information being collected- finding out if they have psychological issues. Participants were told that their responses were confidential and that the purpose of the study was to examine a number of psychological factors that may be related to individuals’ interest in famous people.

Question 82

What is the methodological issue in Maltby’s study?

Answer 82

Concerns with the use of the GHQ to measure psychological well being. The questionnaire is designed for a population free of mental illnesses. This means that it wouldn’t be able to pick up more serious mental issues that might be present in a person with a high score on the borderline/pathological dimension.

Question 83

Why may the conclusions from Maltby’s study not be valid?

Answer 83

The researchers concluded that the high levels of interest in celebrities was the cause of poor psychological well being. However, the study was correlational and so cause and effect cannot be inferred. It could be the case that poor psychological well being is the cause of an unhealthy interest in celebrities as opposed to the other way around.

Question 84

What research is there into intense fandom: stalking?

Answer 84

McCutcheon et al

Question 85

What were the aims of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 85

They set out to test if there is a link between insecure attachments, mild celebrity following and approval of stalking behaviours. Their hypotheses looked at:
If adults with an insecure adult attachment type were more likely to become attached to celebrities than those wish a secure attachment type.
If adults with an insecure adult attachment were more likely to agree with/condone stalking and obsessive behaviours towards their celebrity figure than securely attached adults.
If there was a correlation between stalking tendency and pathological attachment to celebrities.

Question 86

What were the procedures of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 86

299 students, male and female ages 16-42 to complete four measurements. An attitude scale, a celebrity stalking scaling consisting of 11 items such as ‘a fan managed to get hold of the personal number of their favourite celebrity and rand them 4 times in 2 days making obscene comments’ and were asked to use a Likert scale (1-5) to rate how appropriate the behaviours were, a relationship questionnaire to measure adult attachment type and a parental bonding scale which asked participants to recall their early relationships with their parents up to the age of 16.

Question 87

What were the findings of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 87

They found no support for the first hypothesis- there was no relationship between insecure attachment and the tendency to form parasocial relationships with celebrities.
However, the second and third hypotheses were supported- those with insecure attachments were more likely to think stalking was acceptable and there was a relationship between pathological attachment and the tendency to stalk.

Question 88

What were the conclusions of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 88

This study demonstrates that whilst those who have parasocial relationships with celebrities did not have insecure attachments in childhood, those who did have insecure attachments were more likely to condone stalking. This is also a clear link between stalkers and a pathological attachment to celebrities.

Question 89

What are your evaluation points for McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 89

Range of scales
Correlational
Ethics

Question 90

Why is the range of scales a potential limitation of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 90

The scales are not necessarily the most accurate way of tapping into the attitudes being investigated.

Question 91

Why is the correlational method a potential limitation of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 91

Causation cannot be inferred. For example, with regards to the positive correlation between stalking tendency and pathological attachment, we cannot say that one caused the other. The relationship could be coincidental and caused by another third unstudied factor.

Question 92

Why is ethics a potential limitation of McCutcheon et al’s study?

Answer 92

There is a need for sensitivity and careful debriefing after research of this nature. Participants should be directed to appropriate sources of support and help if they so request.