ArticlePDF Available
February 2006
82
The Psychologist Vol 19 No 2
Praying at the altar
of the stars
I
MAGINE for a moment that you are
famous. How different would your life
be? For a start, you would be incredibly
powerful. Feel hungry? Don’t bother
walking to the shop to buy some lunch –
you almost certainly have someone paid to
do that for you. Feel sexy? Just ring up one
of your thousands of admirers if you fancy
a night of passion. There’s always someone
available for you. Feel a little under the
weather? Well, your publicist will simply
have to cancel the afternoon of press
interviews while you put your feet up
and have a nice long bath…
Now imagine, if you have to, that you
are a diehard fan of a famous individual.
How much of your life is spent thinking
about that individual? How much money
have you spent on him or her (concert
tickets, books, travel, souvenirs and other
merchandising)? How important is it to
your identity that you are a fan of that
person? How would you feel if that person
did something bad and it became
embarrassing to be associated with them?
This bizarre state of affairs – a small
group of human beings idolised by a much
larger number – has existed in most
societies to some extent through history.
Very often those idols are never seen by
their admirers because they only exist as
legendary figures in oral narratives, so it
doesn’t matter whether they’re real or not.
Or they may be known, like monarchs or
great military figures, largely through their
representation on money or portrait
paintings. For most people, the idols are
just part of the cultural fabric, some of
them superhumans to emulate, perhaps
with moral significance.
In contemporary society, thanks to the
influence and ubiquity of the mass media,
relationships between idols and their public
have become much more complicated. The
media present us with thousands of figures
from across the world, of all ages, with all
manner of qualities, some without any
discernable ‘qualities’ at all. Media
psychologists use the term ‘parasocial’
to describe the relationships between
audiences and these figures (e.g. Giles,
2002; Horton & Wohl, 1956). They are
‘parasocial’ because they exist beyond
the person’s social network (though some
social psychologists seem reluctant to
acknowledge that they are different from
ordinary relationships, while others think
they are not relationships at all).
Is celebrity then just an extreme form of
popularity? We flock to attractive people in
our immediate environment: even in pre-
school social groups there seem to be
‘stars’ that command more attention than
other children (Hartup, 1992). It is
tempting to think of such individuals as
possessing some magic ‘charisma’ that
seduces the rest of us blindly into their
slipstream – but as Durkheim and others
(e.g. Shils, 1955) have pointed out, the
secret of charisma lies in the interaction
between leaders and followers. The
explosion of celebrity in the last hundred
years can hardly be the result of an excess
of charismatic individuals in the
population!
Therefore, we have to acknowledge
the role that the mass media have played in
creating celebrity culture (Gamson, 1994)
and providing so many different
personalities for audiences to engage with.
The historian Leo Braudy (1997), in a
superb analysis of the fame phenomenon,
argues that until coins appeared as items of
exchange we weren’t used to seeing many
faces other than those of our nearest and
dearest. Movies, radio, television and the
internet have filled our sensory worlds with
faces, voices, bodies and personal histories
that bring celebrities alive in a way
undreamt of centuries ago. When, as part
of an experiment on self-concept, Aron et
al. (1991) asked their participants to
generate visual images of certain
individuals, the vividness of their images
of the movie actress and singer Cher was
higher than that of their own mothers!
It may not be worth trying to explain
the phenomenon of celebrity by examining
celebrities themselves. After all, it is hard
to see what Cher has in common with, say,
Jordan and David Beckham, apart from
celebrity status itself – very much an end-
state attained through different routes
(Giles, 2000). Further, while there are some
recent empirical studies of the desire for
DAVID GILES and JOHN MALTBY
examine the current state of
psychological research on celebrities
and those who ‘worship’ them.
fame and the experience that results from
it (Mrowicki & Giles, 2005; Rockwell &
Giles, 2005), celebrities are a difficult
population for a researcher to recruit
participants from. Instead, social
psychologists have started to explore the
meanings that celebrities hold for the
media audience, and inevitably the more
problematic aspects of what has become
known as ‘celebrity worship’.
Measuring celebrity worship
The first stage of this research field
involved the construction of a measure
of celebrity worship, a psychometric
instrument that attempted to capture
elements of a number of existing measures.
Wann’s (1995) Sport Fan Motivation Scale
identified eight factors predicting sport
fandom: fandom as a source of self-esteem;
as an avenue for escape; as entertainment;
family affiliation; group affiliation;
aesthetic appeal; excitement; and economic
reasons (e.g. betting). Stever’s (1991)
Celebrity Appeal Questionnaire focused
particularly on entertainer and hero/role
model factors. The Parasocial Interaction
Scale of Rubin et al. (1985) emphasised
the one-way friendships between
entertainers and the audience.
Additionally, other authors in the
literature about fan motivation (e.g. Jenson,
1992) kept emphasising ‘psychopathology’
and pathological over-identification with
celebrities. Using these elements,
McCutcheon et al. (2002) introduced the
Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), a 34-item
scale that was initially administered to 262
people living in central Florida and then
refined to 17 items. They suggested a
‘probabilistic item hierarchy’ to celebrity
worship, comprising one dimension in
which lower scores on the scale involved
individualistic behaviour, such as watching,
listening to, reading and learning about
celebrities, whilst the higher levels of
worship are characterised by empathy,
over-identification, and obsession with the
celebrity.
Later research using larger UK samples
has produced a similar picture, but factor
analysis has suggested three different
aspects to celebrity worship (Maltby et al.,
2002; Maltby et al., 2005; Maltby et al.,
2001). A recent study among 1723 UK
respondents (781 males, 942 females) aged
between 14 and 62 years suggests that,
when the items of the CAS are subjected
to principal components analysis, three
dimensions to celebrity worship emerge.
These can be described as:
Entertainment-social. Fans are attracted
to a favourite celebrity because of their
perceived ability to entertain and to
become a source of social interaction
and gossip. Items include ‘My friends
and I like to discuss what my favourite
celebrity has done’ and ‘Learning the
life story of my favourite celebrity is
a lot of fun’.
Intense-personal. The intense-personal
aspect of celebrity worship reflects
intensive and compulsive feelings about
the celebrity, akin to the obsessional
tendencies of fans often referred to in
the literature. Items include ‘My
favourite celebrity is practically perfect
in every way’ and ‘I consider my
favourite celebrity to by my soul mate’.
Borderline-pathological. This
dimension is typified by uncontrollable
behaviours and fantasies about their
celebrities. Items include ‘I would
gladly die in order to save the life of
my favourite celebrity’ and ‘If I walked
through the door of my favourite
celebrity’s house she or he would be
happy to see me’.
These different aspects of celebrity worship
vary in terms of the parasocial interaction
between fans and celebrities, particularly
between the intense-personal and
borderline-pathological dimensions.
From the fan’s viewpoint, intense-personal
aspects of celebrity worship are associated
with passive parasocial relationships (e.g.
‘When something bad happens to my
favourite celebrity I feel like it happened to
me’). With borderline-pathological aspects,
the parasocial relationships involve
individuals imagining themselves in
a special relationship with the celebrity.
Other work at the University of
Leicester looking at extreme levels of
celebrity worship (Sheridan et al., 2005)
has suggested that these elements of
parasocial interaction may be extended
to include dimensions that cover active
attempts to contact the celebrity, by letter
and e-mail, and an overwhelming belief by
the person that there is a real relationship
between the celebrity and themselves and
that they are destined to be together at the
exclusion of all others. In this way the
relationship goes beyond the parasocial.
Once a fan begins to ‘stalk’ a celebrity,
and actual contact is made, the relationship
enters a very real dimension, much to the
distress of the recipient.
Personality correlates
What other aspects of behaviour might
celebrity worship be related to? In terms of
personality, it didn’t take a great leap of the
imagination to see that the three-dimension
model of celebrity worship, to a large
extent, paralleled the three dimensions of
Eysenckian personality theory (Eysenck &
Eysenck, 1985): extraversion, neuroticism
and psychoticism. Specifically, the
entertainment-social factor of the Celebrity
Attitude Scale reflects some of the
extraversion personality traits (sociable,
lively, active, venturesome), the intense-
personal factor of the CAS reflects some
of the neuroticism traits (tense, emotional,
moody), and some of the acts described in
the borderline-pathological subscale of the
CAS seem to reflect some of the
psychoticism traits (impulsive, antisocial,
egocentric).
Consequently Maltby et al. (2003)
found a significant positive correlation
between the corresponding pairs of
dimensions (although the effect was
very small for psychoticism/borderline-
pathological pairing). Maltby et al. (2004a)
found that intense-personal aspects of
celebrity worship were associated with
poorer mental heath and that this
relationship can be understood within the
dimensions of neuroticism and a coping
style that suggests disengagement and
failure to acknowledge (let alone deal with)
stressful events.
Cognitive correlates
Research has also explored cognitive
aspects that may be associated with
celebrity worship. McCutcheon et al.
February 2006
83
www.thepsychologist.org.uk
Celebrity worship
(2003) examined the relationship between
celebrity worship and six cognitive
measures comprising creativity (verbal),
crystallised intelligence, critical thinking,
spatial ability, and need for cognition. High
scores on the CAS consistently showed
negative correlations with these measures
of cognitive ability. The only exception to
this trend was a small but significant
contribution of scores on creativity in
predicting scores on the borderline-
pathological subscale.
Two other studies have looked at
celebrity worship and cognitive flexibility,
which refers to a person’s (a) awareness
that in any given situation there are options
and alternatives available, (b) willingness
to be flexible and adapt to the situation,
and (c) self-efficacy in being flexible.
Martin et al. (2003) and Maltby et al.
(2004b) examined the relationship between
celebrity worship and cognitive flexibility
among USA and UK samples respectively.
Both studies found negative associations
between intense-personal celebrity worship
and cognitive flexibility, suggesting
individuals who engage in celebrity
worship for intense–personal reasons are
unable to consider options or to implement
alternatives to problems.
By implication then, when it comes to
stressful situations of daily life, those who
are intense-personal in their celebrity
worship may be ‘locked’ into a way of
viewing the world, and are therefore unable
to deal with novel or unusual situations.
Such conclusions are consistent with
descriptions of the obsessive or intense-
personal celebrity worshipper as someone
who is unable to deal with the real world,
and can perceive little value in anything
other than their favourite celebrity.
Social and developmental
aspects of celebrity worship
Finally, some social and developmental
aspects of celebrity worship have been
explored among UK samples, and in
particular children and adolescents. In
a first study we (Giles & Maltby, 2004)
examined the parasocial relationships that
adolescents form with favourite celebrities
as secondary attachments. We hypothesised
that celebrity attachments would reflect the
transition from parental attachment to peer
attachments as a function of increasing
emotional autonomy. We found that, after
controlling for age-related effects, high
emotional autonomy was a significant
predictor of celebrity worship, and that
entertainment-social aspects were related
to high attachment to peers and low
attachment to parents.
These findings indicate that the main
function of celebrity attachments in
adolescence may be as an extended social
network – a group of ‘pseudo-friends’ who
form the subject of peer gossip and
discussion. An intense-personal interest in
celebrities was best predicted by low levels
of security and closeness with parents. This
function of celebrity attachment seems to
reflect a more problematic aspect of the
transition towards emotional autonomy. It
seems that celebrities provide adolescents
with a secondary group of pseudo-friends
during a time of increasing autonomy from
parents, but intense focus on a single
celebrity may result from difficulties in
making this transition.
Another more specific focus for these
attachments in adolescents was reported by
Maltby et al. (2005), who examined the
role of celebrity interest in shaping body-
image cognitions. Among three separate
UK samples (adolescents, students and
adults), respondents selected a celebrity of
their own sex whose body/figure they liked
and admired, and then completed the CAS
and two measures of body image.
Significant relationships were found
between attitudes toward celebrities and
body image among female adolescents
only.
It appears that, in female adolescence,
there is an association between intense-
February 2006
84
The Psychologist Vol 19 No 2
Celebrity worship
References
Aron,A., Aron, E.N.,Tudor, M. & Nelson,
G. (1991). Close relationships as
including other in the self. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology,
60, 241–253.
Braudy, L. (1997). The frenzy of renown:
Fame and its history. New York:
Vintage.
Eysenck, H.J. & Eysenck, M.W. (1985).
Personality and individual differences:
A natural science approach. New
York: Plenum.
Gamson, J. (1994). Claims to fame:
Celebrity in contemporary America.
Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
Giles, D.C. (2000). Illusions of
immortality:A psychology of fame and
celebrity. London: Macmillan.
Giles, D.C. (2002). Parasocial
interaction:A review of the
literature and a model for future
research. Media Psychology, 4,
279–305.
Giles, D.C. & Maltby, J. (2004).The role
of media in adolescent
development: Relations between
autonomy, attachment, and interest
in celebrities. Personality and
Individual Differences, 36, 813–822.
Hartup,W.W. (1992). Friendships and
their developmental significance. In
H. McGurk (Ed.) Childhood social
development (pp.175–206). Hove:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Horton, D. & Wohl, R.R. (1956). Mass
communication and para-social
interaction: Observations on
intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry,
19, 215–229.
Jenson, J. (1992). Fandom as pathology:
The consequences of
characterization. In L. Lewis (Ed.)
The adoring audience: Fan culture
and popular media. London:
Routledge.
Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L.E.,
Gillett, R., Houran, J. & Ashe, D.
(2004a). Celebrity worship using
an adaptational-continuum model
of personality and coping. British
Journal of Psychology, 95, 411–428.
Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L.E.,
Martin, M.M. & Cayanus, J.L.
(2004b). Celebrity worship,
cognitive flexibility and social
complexity. Personality and Individual
Differences, 37, 1475–1482.
Maltby, J., Giles, D.C., Barber, L. &
McCutcheon, L.E. (2005). Intense-
personal celebrity worship and
body image: Evidence of a link
among female adolescents. British
Journal of Health Psychology, 10,
17–32.
Maltby, J, Houran, J., Lange, R., Ashe, D.
& McCutcheon, L.E. (2002).Thou
shalt worship no other gods –
unless they are celebrities:The
relationship between celebrity
worship and religious orientation.
Personality and Individual Differences,
32, 1157–1172.
Maltby, J., Houran, M.A., & McCutcheon,
L.E. (2003). A clinical
interpretation of attitudes and
behaviors associated with celebrity
worship. Journal of Nervous and
Mental Disease, 191, 25–29.
Maltby, J., McCutcheon, L.E.,Ashe, D.D.
& Houran, J. (2001).The self-
reported psychological well-being
of celebrity worshippers. North
American Journal of Psychology, 3,
441–452.
Martin, M.M., Cayanus, J.L.,
McCutcheon, L.E. & Maltby, J.
(2003). Celebrity worship and
cognitive flexibility. North American
Journal of Psychology, 5, 75–80.
McCutcheon, L.E.,Ashe, D.D., Houran, J.
& Maltby, J. (2003).A cognitive
profile of individuals who tend to
worship celebrities. Journal of
Psychology, 137, 309–322.
McCutcheon, L.E., Lange, R. & Houran,
J. (2002). Conceptualization and
measurement of celebrity worship.
British Journal of Psychology, 93,
67–87.
Mrowicki, J. & Giles, D.C. (2005, May).
Desire and motivation for fame in a
group of aspiring musicians:A
qualitative study. Paper presented at
the 55th conference of the
International Communication
Association, New York.
Rockwell, D. & Giles, D.C. (2005, May).
Celebrity and being-in-the-world:The
phenomenology of fame. Paper
presented at the 55th conference
of the International
Communication Association, New
York.
Rubin,A.M., Perse, E.M. & Powell, R.A.
(1985). Loneliness, parasocial
interaction, and local television
news viewing. Human
Communication Research, 12,
155–180.
Sheridan, L., Maltby, J. & Gillett, R.
(2005). Celebrity worship and public
figure preoccupation: Bridging the
gap. Manuscript submitted for
publication.
Shils, E.A. (1955). Charisma, order and
status. American Sociological Review,
30, 199-213.
Stever, G.S. (1991).The Celebrity
Appeal Questionnaire. Psychological
Reports, 68, 859–866.
Wann, D.L. (1995). Preliminary
validation of the Sport Fan
Motivation Scale. Journal of Sport
and Social Issues, 19, 377–396.
personal celebrity worship and body image
between the ages of 14 and 16 years, and
some tentative evidence is found to suggest
that this relationship disappears at the onset
of adulthood (17 to 20 years). These results
are consistent with those authors who stress
the importance of the formation of
parasocial relationships with media figures,
and suggest that parasocial relationships
with celebrities perceived as having a good
body shape may lead to a poor body image
in female adolescents.
Conclusions
While the media frequently debate whether
or not celebrity worship is a good thing for
society (an issue bound up with ideology,
morality, and the responsibilities of the
media themselves), at an individual level
it is more a case of keeping things in
perspective. It appears that entertainment-
social aspects of celebrity worship (e.g.
discussing celebrities with friends) form
an unavoidable part of the adolescent
transition to adulthood, but intense-
personal factors (e.g. private fantasies
about celebrities) may lead to inappropriate
attachment behaviour in extreme cases.
Presently we know very little about
these extreme cases. Large-sample
psychometric research has played an
important role in establishing celebrity
worship as a phenomenon amenable to
quantitative psychological research, but it
has left large gaps in our understanding of
the actual processes involved. For a start,
how does celebrity worship develop in
childhood? How might an intense-personal
celebrity worshipper turn into a potentially
homicidal stalker? What role do celebrities
play in meaning construction for children,
adolescents and specific clinical
populations?
There is a fear on behalf of some media
and communication scholars that even
concepts like parasocial interaction are in
danger of pathologising audiences. They
shouldn’t be. There is no excuse for lazy
attributions about the effects of the media.
A more fully integrated psychology of the
media would form the basis for serious
consideration of phenomena like celebrity
worship; and would enable parents,
clinicians and other professionals to treat
media use itself as largely unproblematic,
but to identify critical moments when
ordinary ‘worship’ can develop into
something more troubling.
Dr David Giles is a research tutor for
the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at
Lancaster University. E-mail:
d.c.giles@lancaster.ac.uk.
Dr John Maltby is a lecturer in
psychology at the University of Leicester.
E-mail: m148@le.ac.uk.
February 2006
85
www.thepsychologist.org.uk
Celebrity worship
DISCUSS AND DEBATE
Are celebrities good for us?
What possible roles do celebrities play in our lives?
Are celebrities different from heroes?
How does our interaction with celebrities differ
from that with other media figures?
Have your say on these or other issues this article
raises. E-mail letters on psychologist@bps.org.uk or post
on our forum at www.thepsychologist.org.uk.
... If celebrities, be they television, movie or sports stars, can be considered heroes then their centrality to modern society is confirmed rather than artificially excluded based on the fact that they aren't gods or historical. The centrality of celebrities to modern society has been recognised and is often lamented (Boorstin 1964;Giles and Maltby 2006). This study makes no moral stance on the appropriateness of celebrities as central figures of worship or mythmaking. ...
... The basis of the celebrity worship concept is the notion of parasocial relationships, identified by Horton and Wohl (1956) the associated pathology and behaviours related to addiction. Subsequent to this model, Giles and Maltby (2006) propose that a brand community provides a context to enact celebrity worship and also the social reinforcement to support the addictive components of celebrity worship. ...
... The estimated model also indicates that brand hero worship positively affects social outcomes (Hypothesis 1b). This hypothesis is also based on the parasocial relationship concept where the cult-like behaviours of fan communities are proposed to reinforce the addictive nature of brand hero worship (Giles and Maltby 2006 .51 ...
Thesis
This thesis explores the relationship that forms between brand communities and those faces and heroes that represent the brand organisation. Previous research has focused on the direct relationships that individuals form with celebrities in the form of imagined parasocial or pseudo-relationships. The marketing literature has focused on the influence those celebrities external to the organisation have in endorsing brands, considering endorser credibility, attractiveness and meanings. However, for brand communities, the brand faces and heroes are drawn from within the organisation and their importance lies in their contribution to the brand. In order to explore this mediated relationship, where the brand is the focus of worship between brand communities and brand faces / heroes, two ethnographic studies were conducted. The first study was on the Discworld community, which is a fantasy / comedy book series with a single brand hero: the author, Terry Pratchett. The second was the Brumbies rugby union team based in Canberra Australia, which has multiple brand faces and heroes in the players, coaches and managers. Data collection followed the ethnographic style of researcher embeddedness and data analysis followed the procedures outlined in grounded theory. To triangulate the results of the qualitative studies, quantitative surveys were also conducted in each community. The findings from these studies suggest three main thematic conclusions. The first is the confirmation of the brand as the mediator in the relationship between brand communities and brand faces / heroes. In this situation, a brand face is only considered heroic when they demonstrate their contribution to the brand and their willingness to uphold the same brand values that are important to the community. The second conclusion lies in the nature of brand hero authenticity, where consumers are active participants in the market system but seek brand value over commercial success. This is a constant tension between brand communities and brand organisations. However, brand heroes are those faces that are willing to forgo commercial concerns in order to advance key brand values. The final conclusion concerns the development of the brand community theatre model, which outlines the various roles that brand faces enact with the brand community in a constant negotiation of brand values! in a performance metaphor. The first contribution that this thesis makes to marketing theory is the brand face / hero concept, where relationships are formed via a brand proxy. An additional contribution is the confirmation that brand authenticity is based on a perceived distance from the market system. For brand communities, genuine sacredness exists within the brand rather than within the market. Marketers need to be seen to be advancing brand values rather than simply achieving commercial success. Finally, a new model of brand meaning negotiation is developed using a performance metaphor that extends beyond the individual levels outlined in McAlexander et al.'s (2002) model. The model proposed in this thesis includes group level negotiation between organisations and brand communities and allows individuals to become increasingly active in brand value negotiation.
... Furthermore, Giles and Maltby's (2006) taxonomy theory provides a useful foundation for studying these relationships. Organised into three subcategories, entertainment-social, intensepersonal, and borderline-pathological, this premise allows for a detailed analysis of the emotional depth and probable consequences of PSR. ...
Thesis
Full-text available
The mega concert events industry has experienced remarkable growth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (Chen 2021), indicating its resilience and adaptability in meeting the evolving demands of consumers for immersive entertainment experiences (Liu-Lastres and Cahyanto 2021). Notably, the ongoing success of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour (TSET) serves as a compelling illustration of this trend (Herrera 2017; Bengtsson and Edlom 2023), emphasising the importance of integrating consumer engagement aspects, particularly Parasocial Relationships (PSR), into event management strategies. Consequently, this dissertation delved into the realm of PSR within the context of mega-concert events, with a specific focus on the influence of TSET. TSET stands as a monumental cultural phenomenon, driving economic growth and fostering deep connections with audiences worldwide (Rossman 2022). In the face of economic challenges, eras tours like TSET demonstrate remarkable resilience, offering immersive storytelling experiences that resonate profoundly with fans (Franssen 2022). A thorough examination of existing literature revealed limited research on the impact of mega-concert events on PSR. To address this gap, ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with participants who had either attended or were planning to attend TSET across various locations including America, Australia, and the UK. These interviews aimed to explore participants' emotional attachment to Taylor Swift during the event and the factors influencing their engagement, thereby fostering PSR. The subsequent discussion and findings used thematic analysis to identify three overarching themes: Swift's relatability and personal touch, creating a sense of community, and the illusion of intimacy, all pivotal factors presented in establishing and nurturing parasocial bonds. Drawing from these findings, recommendations were proposed for enhancing future mega-concert events, focusing on strategies to strengthen audience engagement and foster deeper connections between performers and attendees. Acknowledging its limitations, the study offered suggestions for future research endeavours to broaden and refine our comprehension of PSR and its dynamics within mega-concert settings. These efforts aimed to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this domain and guide the development of more immersive and impactful event experiences.
... The concept of CW is one which has only recently attracted academic attention, and as such our understanding of it is limited. Although several articles (Giles and Maltby 2006;Hyman and Sierra 2010;Sansone and Sansone 2014) provide a general overview of CW studies, until now there has been no systematic literature review on the topic. The current review aimed to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of all published literature exploring factors associated with CW, and proposing directions for future research. ...
Article
Full-text available
A ‘culture of celebrity’ began to emerge in the twentieth century, profoundly impacting the social world. Recent years have seen the publication of an increasing wealth of literature focusing on people who are enthralled with celebrities – often to the point of obsession – termed ‘celebrity worshippers’. The current paper systematically reviews this literature to gain a comprehensive understanding of the various factors associated with celebrity worship and to identify gaps in the literature. Papers were identified through a systematic literature search and 62 were deemed relevant for inclusion in the review. These provided evidence that celebrity worship may be related to demographic factors (e.g. age); personality factors (e.g. dimensions of the psychoticism-extraversion-neuroticism model, materialism); religiosity; behavioural and cognitive-behavioural factors (e.g. fantasy proneness, obsessive behaviours); feelings about the self or the world (e.g. self-esteem); cognitive factors (e.g. cognitive flexibility, critical thinking); relationships with others (e.g. attachment style, romantic relationship style); attitudes towards the body, eating, and cosmetic surgery; and psychological wellbeing (e.g. depression, anxiety). The results are used to help researchers understand the individual and psychosocial factors associated with celebrity worship, and directions for future research in this area are identified.
... In contrast, psychology has often focused on the problematic and pathological aspects of people's interest in popular media (Stever, 2011). This orientation is exemplified by the concept of celebrity worship, which is perhaps the most robust contribution to social science research on popular media fans in the last 20 years (Giles & Maltby, 2006;Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Houran, & Ashe, 2006;McCutcheon, Lange, & Houran, 2002). McCutcheon et al. (2002) developed the Celebrity Attitude Scale to measure celebrity worship. ...
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of this research was to develop a measure that systematically assesses the various components of film and television fan identity and to test its connection to well-being. Across two studies, the multidimensional Fan Identity Scale was developed and validated. The resulting 9-item survey yielded three factors that encompassed both personal and social dimensions of fan identity. In Study 2, the relationship between these dimensions and three facets of well-being was also explored. Results indicated that overall fan identity predicted overall well-being. In addition, social fan identity predicted relational well-being and marginally predicted physical well-being. Avenues for future research involving the Fan Identity Scale are discussed.
... There are multiple categories and ways of looking at insecure attachments and how they are created. For example, studies have been conducted on the social development of children through the lenses of parents' marital conflict, infant-caregiver attachment, inappropriate attachment, and identity development, which reveal that the impact of parents on the creation of individual identity cannot be denied (Azam & Hanif, 2011;Cole & Leets, 1999;Giles & Maltby, 2006;Nawaz, 2011). Additionally, Derrick, Gabriel, and Tippin (2008) found that parasocial relationships may "be a buffer against rejection" for these individuals (p. ...
Conference Paper
This study seeks to determine whether or not unsatisfying or lack of real-world parental attachments, known as insecure attachments, influence parasocial interaction with favorite celebrities. The authors theorized that insecure attachments might play a role in the four processes of audience involvement: transportation, parasocial interaction, identification, and worship. Brown’s examination of these four processes and description of parasocial interaction is the impetus for this study (2015). Through the lens of attachment theory, Bocarnea and Brown’s Celebrity-Persona Parasocial and Identification Scale and The Adult Attachment Scale by Collins and Read were expanded to create a customized survey questionnaire (2007; 1990). The results confirmed the theorized link between attachment styles, and parental-based attachment to favorite celebrities. Keywords: celebrity influence, parasocial interaction, identification, parental attachment, insecure attachments, Attachment Theory
... Pour la construction et la gestion de son identité, le sujet social est donc en permanence engagé dans de multiples processus de comparaison, d'autocatégorisation et d'identification sociales (Tajfel, 1972), dans lesquels les communications avec les membres des groupes sociaux jouent un rôle majeur. Giles et Maltby (2006) précisent que le processus d'identification du fan à la célébrité ne conduit toutefois pas à « abolir sa personnalité », mais lui permet d'avoir un rôle de plus, lié à son identité, qu'il peut mettre en avant dans certaines situations, pour se démarquer de son entourage direct ou pour s'affilier à un groupe de pairs (les autres fans). La visibilité et les représentations sociomédiatiques de la célébrité sont également des composantes dont les fans tiennent compte dans la construction et la gestion de leur identité (Lits, 2009). ...
Article
Full-text available
The authors conducted a qualitative survey of Michael Jackson fans’ reactions to his death and their subsequent communication practices in order to better understand certain psychological and social aspects of fandom. They examine the uses of and roles played by interpersonal communications and social media during the period of mourning. Their analysis shows that a celebrity can play a socio-emotional mediating role between a fan and a loved one. The death of a celebrity brings up new identity needs among fans and, correlatively, new and different roles played by the social media during the period of mourning and the process of identity realignment according to the existing identity (individual, group or social) of the fans.
Chapter
In the current digital age, people and information are more accessible than ever; making interactions and resources more readily available for socially vulnerable populations, such as chronically ill individuals. While this accessibility has documented positive benefits, the ability to search for any information surrounding a public figure has created a new possible threat: parasocial relationships. For chronically ill individuals, these relationships may allow for social interaction during periods of isolation and feelings of loneliness due to constant symptom management. With loneliness and chronic illnesses influencing one another, this chapter explores the connection and how they play a role in social and emotional vulnerability. The formation of parasocial relationships in chronically ill adolescents and emerging adults through the use of social media is also examined.
Article
Full-text available
We examined how insecure attachment styles, in the form of unsatisfying or lack of real-world parental relationships, may contribute to transference of parental attributes to favorite celebrities or famous personae in adulthood; herein known as parasocial parental attachment. Using the lens of attachment theory, Bocarnea and Brown's Celebrity-Persona Parasocial and Identification Scale and The Revised Adult Attachment Scale-Close Relationships Version by Collins were expanded to create a customized survey questionnaire (2007; 1996). Results confirm the theorized link between attachment styles, and parental-based attachment to favorite celebrities or personae. Keywords: parasocial interaction, parasocial relationships, parasocial attachment, parasocial parental attachment, insecure attachments, Attachment Theory Advances in social media and communication technology make it easier than ever before to access and interact with celebrities. It may seem that this interaction is a byproduct of today's digitally mediated landscape; however, it was first examined by Horton and Wohl (1956), who coined the term "para-social interaction" (PSI) in their analysis of PSI and traditional mass communication. They described PSI as a "one-sided," imaginary relationship, between media figures and audience members, where the relationship is not mutually developed (p. 215). Numerous researchers have added to the study of parasocial relationships. See McCutcheon, Maltby, Houran, and Ashe (2004) for an early review, and Brooks (2018) for a more recent one. Research using attachment theory seems to suggest that parasocial interactions are more likely when individuals have an insecure anxious ambivalent attachment (Brown
Article
Full-text available
This paper seeks to identify kinds of relationships fans who celebrate their passion individually might have with their music icons and focuses on a better understanding of the content of these relationship (how these fans interact with their music icon and valuable consumption practices associated). It relies on recent works considering fandom as an intensely personal phenomenon that can occur in the absence of a group or social context. The theoretical background builds on subcultures studies, consumption practices related, and the attachment consumers can develop with celebrities or teams. Through a qualitative study with popular music fans who live their passion independently of any community or subculture, findings underline that some fans can intentionally gravitate more toward an individualized (rather than a collective) celebration of his or her object of fandom and that may result in various consumption practices. Also, this research highlights that being a fan does not necessary involve heavy celebrity worship, both terms being indeed not interchangeable, but can end up by valuable practices for both fans and their object of fandom.
Article
Full-text available
Over the last generation, a major field of research on «celebrity culture» has developed in the English-speaking academic world that has no equivalent in France or French. Following a discipline-by-discipline critical review of this research, an attempt is made to elucidate why there is such a discrepancy between the English and French social sciences on this point, and to identify obstacles in each of these traditions that may yet hinder the development of a sociological approach to celebrity capable of shedding non-normative light on the many facets of a phenomenon that, in the twentieth century, became virtually universal.
Article
Full-text available
he Celebrity Appeal Questionnaire was constructed to operationalize constructs related to parasocial attraction or attraction to celebrities by their fans. The article contains a factor analysis of responses on this questionnaire by 81 college students and a group of 367 Michael Jackson concert attendees. Components of parasocial attraction were perceived sex appeal, perceived competence (here as an entertainer), and perception of the artist as a prosocial person. Mystique was not a predictor of fans' attraction. Further work to establish generality of applicability of the scales and findings is discussed.
Article
Full-text available
This paper considers the phenomenon of parasocial interaction (PSI) used by media researchers to describe the relationship between media users and media figures (from celebrities to fictional characters). Although the concept has been used consistently across the past two decades in media research, it is argued here that it has not been sufficiently developed at a theoretical level to be taken up by psychologists. A number of key issues have not been addressed: firstly, how PSI might, as its originators put it, be "integrated into the matrix of usual social activity" (Horton & Wohl, 1956); secondly, how PSI might vary according to different types of media figure; and thirdly, what processes over time and media use bind user and figure into a "parasocial relationship." In this paper the existing literature on PSI is extensively reviewed, and an original model of PSI is developed for use in future social psychological research, which places PSI within the realm of ordinary social interaction and suggests ways in which different media use and different types of media figure interact to produce different styles of relationship. Finally, some applications of more detailed research into PSI are suggested.
Article
Full-text available
To extend previous consideration of cognitive factors in celebrity worship, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between celebrity worship, cognitive flexibility and social complexity. Two samples of non-student (n=260) and student respondents (n=168) completed measures of entertainment–social, intense–personal, borderline–pathological celebrity worship, cognitive flexibility and social complexity. Findings suggest that cognitive flexibility predicts unique variance in intense–personal aspects of celebrity worship. These findings help researchers to further conceptualise and understand the individual who follows a celebrity in an intense and personal way.
Article
Full-text available
The cognitive significance of being in a close relationship is described in terms of including other in the self (in K. Lewin's [1948] sense of overlapping regions of the life space and in W. James [1890/1948] sense of the self as resources, perspectives, and characteristics). Exp 1 (with 24 college students), adapting W. B. Liebrand's (see record 1985-20117-001) decomposed-game procedures, found less self/other difference in allocations of money to a friend than to a stranger, regardless of whether Ss expected other to know their allocations. Exp 2 (with 20 female undergraduates), adapting C. G. Lord's (see record 1988-00331-001) procedures, found that Ss recalled fewer nouns previously imaged with self or mother than nouns imaged with a nonclose other, suggesting that mother was processed more like self than a stranger. Exp 3 (with 17 married graduate students), adapting self-schema, reaction-time (RT) procedures (e.g., H. Markus; see record 1977-27587-001) found longer latencies when making "me/not me" decisions for traits that were different between self and spouse versus traits that were similar for both, suggesting a self/other confusion with spouse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Full-text available
The influence of figures from the mass media on adolescent development has been somewhat neglected in the literature to date. One particularly important influence concerns the parasocial relationships that adolescents form with favourite celebrities, which have been described as secondary attachments. In this study, celebrity interest was investigated in a sample of 191 British adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16, using a shortened version of the Celebrity Attitude Scale. It was hypothesised that celebrity attachments would reflect the transition from parental attachment to peer attachments and would also be related to increasing emotional autonomy. It was found that, after controlling for age-related effects, high emotional autonomy was a significant predictor of celebrity interest, as well as high attachment to peers and low attachment to parents. Different patterns were observed according to the functions of celebrity attachment: intense, personal interest in celebrities was best predicted by low levels of security and closeness. These findings suggest that celebrities provide adolescents with a secondary group of pseudo-friends during a time of increasing autonomy from parents, but intense focus on a single celebrity may result from difficulties in making this transition.
Article
In this paper I explore the ramifications of charismatic sensitivity, i.e., the propensity to impute charismatic qualities to actions, persons, institutions and cultural objects. My analysis takes its point of departure in Max Weber's analysis of charismatic authority. In trying to analyze charismatic authority more systematically than Weber was able to do, I have concluded that he was dealing with one particular variant of the charismatic propensity, which has more far-reaching, more permeative manifestations than his analysis has hitherto led us to believe.
Article
Factors believed to be motivations responsible for sport fandom include eustress, self-esteem, escape, entertainment, economic, aesthetic, group affiliation, and family needs. However, these factors have been untested empirically, and a valid and reliable measure of sport fan motivation has been unavailable to researchers. The current two studies were an attempt to develop such a measure. The construction and validation of a 23-item Likert-scale measure, the Sport Fan Motivation Scale, are described. Discussion centers on possible uses for the instrument.
Article
A conceptual model was developed predicting parasocial interaction from both a social interaction need due to loneliness and instrumental television news use. Questionnaires were completed by 329 persons. Pearson and partial correlations supported hypotheses linking loneliness with less interpersonal communication and both loneliness and parasocial interaction with more television reliance. Loneliness and parasocial interaction were not correlated. Canonical correlation analysis supported expectations that instrumental news viewing for information was related to more parasocial interaction and perceived news realism; viewing news for exciting entertainment, news affinity, and news viewing levels correlated positively with this pattern. Ritualized news viewing for time consumption was related to more television viewing, but to less news viewing, duration, and affinity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified news affinity, perceived news realism, and information news viewing motives as salient predictors of parasocial interaction with a favorite local television news personality. Implications of results were discussed in light of uses and gratifications research and communication interaction.