THE PSYCHOLOGY OF “CELEBRITY”
To read up on the psychology of “celebrity”, refer to pages 587–603 of Eysenck’s A2 Level Psychology.
Ask yourself
 Why are people obsessed with “celebrity”?
 Why are reality TV programmes so popular?
 What makes someone a stalker?
What you need to know
THE “ATTRACTION” OF CELEBRITY
AND EXPLANATIONS
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Definition of a celebrity
Types of celebrity worship
Social psychological explanations
of attraction of celebrity
Evolutionary explanations of
attraction of celebrity
RESEARCH INTO INTENSE FANDOM
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Absorption addiction model of
intense fandom
Stalking: motives for stalking, who
becomes a stalker, processes
leading to stalking
THE ATTRACTION OF “CELEBRITY” AND EXPLANATIONS
A celebrity is a person of distinction or fame. Celebrity attraction has always existed but two factors have
brought it to particular attention more recently:
 There has been a huge increase in the number of celebrities, mainly due to
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the media.
There has been a large increase in the number of “ordinary” people who are
now considered to be celebrities. This is largely due to “reality” TV so is also
related to the media.
Maltby et al. (2006, see A2 Level Psychology page 587) identify three dimensions of celebrity worship:
1. Entertainment–social: celebrities are a source of entertainment and social interaction.
2. Intense–personal: individuals have intense and compulsive feelings about, and devotion to, their
favourite celebrities.
3. Borderline–pathological: individuals have uncontrollable fantasies and forms of behaviour relating to
their favourite celebrity.
Social Psychological Explanations
These explanations attempt to account for the attraction of celebrity as a means of deriving pleasure from a
“pretend” relationship that is less demanding than a real one. Such relationships are known as parasocial
relationships—one-sided relationships in which one person makes a large emotional investment whilst the
other makes none and is probably unaware of their fan’s existence.
Theorists point to ways in which these resemble “real” relationships:
1. Thompson (2006, see A2 Level Psychology pages 588–589) suggested that
parasocial relationships fulfil some of the main needs fulfilled by real
relationships, that of the need for relatedness, competence (a sense of
mastery and achievement), and independence.
2. Eyal and Cohen (2006, see A2 Level Psychology page 589) found that there
was emotional intensity expressed at the end of such a relationship (they
looked at viewers’ responses to the last episode of Friends).
One of the attractions of celebrities is that only the most attractive of the person’s traits are shown, unlike
in “real” relationships.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
 Ashe and McCutcheon (2001, see A2 Level Psychology page 589) found
modest support for the fact that people most attracted to celebrities are
lonely and shy. Eyal et al (2006) found lonely viewers more upset by the last
episode of Friends than non-lonely ones.
 Giles (2000, see A2 Level Psychology page 589) found younger people more
likely to be attracted to celebrity than older people.
Giles and Maltby (2004, see A2 Level Psychology page 589) found evidence
that this may be because they are less well established in real social
networks. They found those 11- to 16-year-olds most attracted to celebrities
reported low levels of security and closeness to others and low attachment to
parents.
 Cole and Leets (1999, see A2 Level Psychology page 590) found that
adolescents who had had resistant/ambivalent attachment (see AS material
on attachment) were most likely to have parasocial relationships with
celebrities whilst the avoidantly attached were least likely to. This may be
because the securely attached have real-life relationships, the avoidantly
attached do not seek emotional commitment in any way, whilst the
resistantly attached need to have emotional relationships but desire ones in
which there is no fear of rejection.
EVALUATION OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
 Supporting evidence of similarity to real relationships. People in
parasocial relationships are emotionally involved in them and in this way
they resemble real relationships so fulfil a social need.
 Supporting evidence of personality traits. Some predicted characteristics
(shyness, loneliness) have been shown to exist in those who worship
celebrities.
 Oversimplification. There is no single personality that engages in celebrity
admiration. There are many different motivational factors that determine
whether people admire celebrities.
 Individuals may not have consistent attachment style across all
relationships. Ross and Spinner (2001, see A2 Level Psychology page 590)
have shown variation in attachment styles across different significant
relationships so attempts to identify a single pattern for celebrity worship
may be futile.
Evolutionary Explanations
The evolutionary approach to explaining celebrity attraction proposes that the worshipped celebrities
represent the type of people with whom worshippers would want a sexual relationship in real life. For both
sexes this is a person who can best help them to pass on their genes. For evolutionary reasons, men and
women value different characteristics in potential mates. Women desire men of high resources in secure
jobs who are willing to commit; in other words, someone who can support them during pregnancy and
child rearing. Men desire healthy, attractive women of child-bearing age.
In the world of parasocial relationships, unlike the real world, both sexes are free to select partners who
perfectly match their desires.
In addition, in evolutionary terms it is important to know the difference between familiar people and
strangers since the latter might pose a threat. By being seen regularly on screen, celebrities become familiar
and hence can become attractive potential “partners”.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
 Townsend, Kline, and Wasserman (1995, see A2 Level Psychology page 592)
showed that high social status made men very attractive to women as a
celebrity whereas it was a less attractive feature of women. Also, male
celebrities who achieved high status (for example, through sporting success)
became more attractive to women.
 Townsend and Wasserman (1997, see A2 Level Psychology page 592) found
that women show more variability in their judgement of men than did men
judging women. This corresponds to the expectation based on the fact that
men judge on external characteristics that are easy to see so there is likely to
be agreement on what is attractive. In contrast, women judge on internal
characteristics, which are more difficult to assess.
 Waynforth and Dunbar (1995, see A2 Level Psychology page 592) found that
predictions of evolutionary theory applied when assessing what men and
women request in “personal ads”. Women want professional (high status)
men; men desire physically attractive features (e.g. being slim). The
implication is that male celebrities would be expected to be wealthy, and
feminine celebrities very physically attractive. This is usually the case
(though there are notable exceptions).
 Anderson et al. (1992, see A2 Level Psychology page 593) reviewed findings
in 52 cultures and found that slim women were found to be attractive in
Western countries but fatter women were preferred in societies in which
there are food shortages. This corresponds to the most healthy women being
attractive.
 McCutcheon (2002, see A2 Level Psychology page 593), however, did not find
evidence that celebrities correspond to the most sexually attractive partner.
When asked to name their favourite celebrity, only 61% of women and 24%
of men chose an opposite-sex celebrity in a glamorous profession. A lot of the
chosen celebrities were judged on other characteristics, presumably because
of some talent, and this is unrelated to their sexual attractiveness.
 Ackerman, Kenrick, and Schaller (2007, see A2 Level Psychology page 593)
found that celebrities are treated in many ways like friends, especially by
female fans. This corresponds to the prediction from evolutionary theory
that friends are preferred over strangers.
EVALUATION OF EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS
 Evidence supports the theory. By and large, research supports the
prediction that male celebrities are attractive to women because they have
high social status and resources whereas female celebrities are attractive to
men because they are young and very attractive physically.
 Evidence against. McCutcheon’s (2002) research did not support the theory
(see above).
 There are other explanations for the findings. Women may be attracted to
wealthy men so that they can indulge themselves rather than provide for
their potential children.
The basic premise is dubious. The fact that mate selection and, indirectly,
celebrity attraction, are based on perpetuation of genes is not supported by
evidence. When people have a choice, family sizes decrease rapidly.
 It cannot predict who is chosen as a celebrity. Evolutionary theory cannot
account for why one person out of a huge variety is selected for worship.
 It cannot account for why the majority are not attracted to celebrities.
Since evolutionary theory applies to everyone, it is difficult to see how the
theory accounts for the fact that most people are never attracted to
celebrities.
Research into Intense Fandom
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Many people admire celebrities and this is usually a harmless (even beneficial) pastime but sometimes this
goes further and results in an unhealthy obsession with them. This can take various forms: we will look at
celebrity worship and at stalking.
Celebrity Worship
Rosenblatt, Walsh, and Jackson (1976, see A2 Level Psychology page 595) showed that when a celebrity
dies, people who worship him or her experience bereavement similar to that experienced when a close
family member dies.
Erotomania is a mental disorder in which the individual has delusions that someone of a higher status
(usually a celebrity) has fallen in love with him or her and has made romantic advances. Kennedy et al.
(2002, see A2 Level Psychology page 595) listed various characteristics of sufferers (these refer to the
majority, they are not shown by all):
 They do not have a partner.
 They do not have a full-time job.
 75% are female.
 They often have other mental disorders.
 Members of the family have mental disorders.
 In some cases they go on to become stalkers
Cheng et al. (2007, see A2 Level Psychology page 595) pointed out the danger of celebrity worship.
Following the suicide by hanging of a famous Taiwanese actor, rates of attempted suicide rose by 55% in
the following 3 weeks, with many of these reporting that they wanted to follow in his footsteps.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
Several individual characteristics have been linked to celebrity worship.
 Personality traits: Maltby, Houran, and McCutcheon (2003, see A2 Level

Psychology page 595–596), as mentioned earlier, list three dimensions of
celebrity worship: entertainment–social, intense–personal, and borderline–
pathological. They related these to the three personality characteristics
identified by Eysenck: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. Their
findings were:
o entertainment–social was associated with extraversion
o intense–personal was associated with high levels of neuroticism
o borderline–pathological was associated with higher levels of
psychoticism (this was a weak association).
Cognitive functioning (levels of education, intelligence, etc.) seems to be
related to celebrity worship.
o Levy (1979, see A2 Level Psychology page 596) found those scoring
high on celebrity adulation had, on average, fewer years of education
than those scoring low.
Fujii, Ahmed, and Takeshita (1999, see A2 Level Psychology page 596)
looked at the characteristics of people suffering from erotomania and
found that they had various cognitive deficits and lacked flexibility in
their thinking.
o McCutcheon et al. (2003, see A2 Level Psychology page 596) found that
people who scored high on celebrity worship were less intelligent
than those who scored low.
Explanations: Absorption–addiction model
o
McCutcheon et al. (2002, see A2 Level Psychology page 596) put forward this model, which applies to
individuals with a weak sense of identity and consists of two stages:
Stage 1: Absorption—the person’s attention is entirely focused on the celebrity and they find out
everything they can about him or her.
Stage 2: Addiction—the individual craves greater and greater closeness to the chosen celebrity and
becomes increasingly delusional in thinking and behaviour. The main motivation is to achieve a full sense
of identity and a social role.
EVALUATION OF RESEARCH ON CELEBRITY WORSHIP
 There is supporting evidence. Houran, Navik, and Zerrusen (2005, see A2
Level Psychology pages 596–597) showed that people who engage in
celebrity worship don’t perceive clear boundaries between themselves and
other people and fail to distinguish between emotions and thoughts. They
found a significant positive correlation between unclear or thin boundaries
and each of the three dimensions of celebrity worship (entertainment–social;
intense–personal; borderline–pathological).
 Research has important findings:
o It has established the three dimensions of celebrity worship.
o It has shown how each is associated with different personality types.
o The absorption–addiction model provides an account of the processes
involved in celebrity worship and is supported by evidence.
 Research has limitations:
o Nearly all the studies are correlational so there is no certainty of
showing cause and effect. It is possible that celebrity worship causes
an individual’s personality to change rather than the personality
causing the celebrity worship.
o It is assumed that the same processes are involved regardless of the
type of celebrity worship. However, people may be attracted to
celebrities because of their outstanding ability, not their celebrity
status—it may not be in order to try to establish an identity.
o The absorption–addiction model describes rather than explains
celebrity worship. Almost by definition it is those people with
borderline–pathological personality who are absorbed with celebrity
but this does not explain how this personality came about.
Stalking
A stalker can be defined as someone who obsessively follows another person, often with a sinister purpose.
Repeated unwanted behaviour that frightens the victim constitutes stalking, regardless of the previous
relationship between the stalker and the victim. Most stalking does not involve celebrities.
Cupach and Spitzberg (2004, see A2 Level Psychology page 597) identified eight different categories of
stalking, including surveillance, harassment, intimidation, aggression, mediated contacts. Mediated contacts
are attempts at communication with the victim via technologies such as e-mail and the internet, sometimes
known as cyber-stalking.
Spitzberg and Cupach (2007, see A2 Level Psychology page 599) reviewed 175 studies of stalking and
found that:
 25% of individuals have experienced stalking; females were more likely than
males to be stalked.
Stalking lasts an average of 22 months.
In 80% of cases, stalker and victim knew each other beforehand.
In 50% of cases this was a romantic relationship.
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A very important aspect of these findings is they clearly show that stalkers are not totally insane or
psychopaths.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE ON MOTIVES FOR STALKING
Spitzberg and Cupach (2007) list four possible motives for stalking and give the percentages of each in
their sample (these do not cover all motives, hence the total is not 100%):
 Intimacy motives (e.g. obsession, dependency, reconciliation) 32%
 Aggression motives (e.g. attack, control, possess) 22%
 Disability-based motives (e.g. drugs, mental illness) 12%
 Issue-based motives (e.g. dispute over money, gain access to children) 13%
This led to three important conclusions:
 Most stalkers are not mentally ill.
 Stalkers vary enormously in motives, so not all are alike.
 The precise pattern of motives also varies widely from stalker to stalker, they
are not all motivated by revenge or love.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE ON PERSONALITY FACTORS
 Kamphuis, Emmelkamp, and de Vries (2004, see A2 Level Psychology page
599) found that, compared to non-stalkers, stalkers were:
o very low on agreeableness
o moderately low on conscientiousness
o moderately high on neuroticism
o the same on extraversion
o the same on openness (referring to openness to experience).
 Kienlen et al. (1997, see A2 Level Psychology page 600) found that, in a small
sample of imprisoned stalkers (i.e. those who had taken stalking to the
extreme), most had lost a parent during childhood. Many had suffered loss of
an important relative in the few months before they started stalking.
o Lewis et al. (2001, see A2 Level Psychology page 600) found that
stalkers were significantly more likely than non-stalkers to be
insecurely attached.
o Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991, see A2 Level Psychology page 600)
identified an attachment type in adults known as preoccupied
attachment, which involves an over-involvement in close
relationships, a dependence on other people’s acceptance for a sense
of personal well-being, a tendency to idealise other people, and
incoherence and exaggerated emotionality in discussing relationships.
o Spitzberg and Cupach (2007, see A2 Level Psychology page 600)
reviewed several studies of stalking and found that many of these
supported the idea that stalkers had preoccupied attachment. It is,
however, important to note that not everyone with preoccupied
attachment is a stalker and that not every stalker has preoccupied
attachment.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE ON PROCESSES LEADING TO STALKING
 Spitzberg and Cupach (2007, see A2 Level Psychology pages 600–601)
advanced goal pursuit theory, which identifies three main stages of stalking:
1. Goal linking: Potential stalkers believe that in order to achieve higher-level
goals (such as happiness, having high self-worth) they have to achieve
certain low-level goals (such as having one particular relationship). They
therefore attach huge importance to the relational goal.
2. Rumination and emotional flooding: Failure to achieve their goal results in
rumination, persistent unpleasant thoughts relating to how distressing it will
be if they fail to achieve their goal. There is also a flood of negative
emotions—anger, frustration, jealousy.
3. Enhanced motivation: The stalker believes that the only way they can be
relieved of their intense negative emotions is to achieve their goal and this
leads to increased motivation to do so. They tend to interpret any behaviour
of the victim as encouragement however irrelevant or negative it is.
 Dutton-Greene (2004, see A2 Level Psychology page 601) and Cupach et al.
(2006, see A2 Level Psychology page 601) provide evidence in support of the
theory. Both studies showed links between inability to cope with the end of a
relationship and excessive rumination and emotional flooding.
OVERALL EVALUATION OF RESEARCH ON STALKING
 Support for goal pursuit theory. Generally, the stronger the previous
relationship between the victim and stalker, the greater the likelihood of
violence. This is consistent with goal pursuit theory.
 There is evidence that the motives of stalkers vary considerably. These
can be based on intimacy, aggression, or drugs.
 There is increased understanding of the personality types of many
stalkers. For example, low agreeableness, high neuroticism.
 There is no evidence that stalkers with a serious mental disorder are
more likely to use physical violence than other stalkers. Indeed stalkers
diagnosed with psychosis are less likely to be violent towards their victim.
Aggression is more closely linked to the relationship of stalker and victim
than to personality.
 Some of the processes involved in stalking have been identified. Stalkers
who feel thwarted engage in rumination and emotional flooding, which often
lead to increased motivation to pursue their victim.
 Nearly all the evidence consists of associations or correlations. We
cannot infer causality from associations.
 There is insufficient evidence on celebrity stalkers. Although it is likely
that celebrity stalkers have similar psychological characteristics to noncelebrity stalkers, there is not enough evidence on celebrity stalkers to be
sure.
A general theory to account for most cases of stalking has not been
developed. The motives of stalkers are so diverse that this hasn’t proved
possible.
So What Does This mean?
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In an age when the vast majority of people watch television and read magazines and newspapers it is hardly
surprising that most people take some interest in the lives of celebrities. The extent to which they do is
reflected in the enormous amounts of money such celebrities can command for a set of, for example,
wedding or birthday photos. We can explain this both in terms of celebrity admiration being yet another
social relationship running alongside our “real” ones and/or in terms of evolution—the celebrity represents
our “perfect” partner!
Occasionally relationships, both real and parasocial, take a negative turn and people find themselves
victims of stalking. Most of these are not celebrities although celebrity stalking is, understandably, what
grabs the headlines. Research into stalking has demonstrated that it is important to avoid thinking of all
stalkers as being basically similar in their underlying motives. Some stalkers fit the stereotype of obsessive,
lonely psychopaths but the vast majority do not, nor, indeed, do they suffer from any mental illness.
Violence in stalking is actually unusual and depends far more on the relationship that was previously
experienced by the victim and stalker than the personality characteristics of the stalker.
Over to you
1. Discuss what psychological research has shown about intense fandom and/or celebrity worship. (25
marks)