The Celebrity
Choose a celebrity, past or present. You will provide a short list of behaviors this person has exhibited. Then, attempt to explain
these behaviors from the point of view of each major psychological perspective. Your reasoning may be wide ranging, as long as it
falls in line with the perspective. They don’t have to be true – just a possible explanation that perspective may offer.
Example:
Lady Gaga is known for being a singer, dancer, actress, philanthropist and her unique sense of fashion.
Evolutionary: Lady Gaga’s ability to sing was naturally selected from her ancestors.
Biological Perspective (Genetics): Lady Gaga has an emotional reaction to her audience at the end of her show and
begins to cry. This emotional tendency was inherited from her father.
Psychodynamic: Lady Gaga is always late for meetings with managers at her record company. She notices no one says
anything because she’s a celebrity, but deep down she feels her managers are growing increasingly angry with
her for not being on time.
Behavioral: Lady Gaga observed her mother’s hand movements when her mother sang and now Lady Gaga does the
same ones.
Cognitive: Lady Gaga performed over one hundred shows on her last world tour. She was exhausted. All she really
remembers was her fans and how much she loves to perform and she wants to do it again.
Humanistic: Lady Gaga is driven by her desire to be a successful performer and also her desire to have a family and
children in the future.
Social-Cultural: Lady Gaga has treated pop music like art and this has been viewed in different ways by various cultures
around the world.
On a piece of paper, name your celebrity AND INCLUDE A PICTURE. Write a short list of their behaviors. Provide a
possible explanation of the behaviors from each of the seven psychological perspectives.