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Information about Celebrity Worship

Celebrity Worship Syndrome is a state of individual preference falsely identified as a psychological condition. This misconception stems from a psychological survey called the Celebrity Worship Scale. Journalists falsely interpreted the letters CWS as meaning Celebrity Worship Syndrome.

Objects of affection

Psychologists have indicated that though many people obsess over glamorous film, television, sport and popstars, others have unlikely icons such as politicians or authors. The only common factor between them is that they are all figures in the public eye i.e. celebrities.

Causes of CWS

Social psychologists agree that the reasons are complex. [] However, some reasons recur.

Relationships

Researchers believe that in a media-orientated society, celebrities have taken the place of neighbors, relatives, friends and family in occasional circumstances for many people. They feel that the respect for family members has been replaced by worship of the famous, as this is the new method of associating with success. In modern cultures, there is less emphasis on the value of experience, but instead knowing the 'secret' of success, and celebrities are seen to hold this, since they often come from mediocrity.

Clinical component

Researchers also indicate that there is a clear clinical component to behavioral patterns associated with CWS.

Darwinian evolution

Research indicate that evolution played a role in CWS.

Fan bases

Psychologists feel that fan bases resemble religious cults and can be a cause of CWS, because:
  • '' They often organize conventions and recruit new followers.
  • '' Fans pursue an interest in one celebrity and denigrate other stars.
  • '' Obsession resembles religious worship.
  • '' They make sure they watch all appearances made by their celebrity.
  • '' They try to collect items touched by their superstar.

Three types of CWS

Psychologists in the U.S.A. and UK. created a celebrity worship scale to rate the problems. U.S.A. psychologists Lynn McCutcheon, Rense Lange, and James Houran, (2002) (1)introduced the Celebrity Attitude Scale, a 34 item scales administered to 262 persons living in central Florida. McCutcheon et al (2002) suggested that celebrity worship comprised one dimension in which lower scores on the scale involved individualistic behavior such as watching, listening to, reading and learning about celebrities whilst the higher levels of worship are characterized by empathy, over-identification, and obsession with the celebrity.

However, later research among larger U.K. samples have suggested there are 3 different aspects to celebrity worship; Maltby, and the aforementioned psychologists(2) examined the Celebrity Attitude Scale among 1732 United Kingdom respondents (781 males, 942 females) who were aged between 14 and 62 years and found the following 3 dimensions to celebrity worship:
Entertainment-social
This dimension comprises attitudes that fans are attracted to a favorite celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain and become a social focus such as “I love to talk with others who admire my favorite celebrity” and “I like watching and hearing about my favorite celebrity when I am with a large group of people”.
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; for example “I share with my favorite celebrity a special bond that cannot be described in words” and “When something bad happens to my favorite celebrity I feel like it happened to me’”.
Borderline-pathological
This dimension is typified by uncontrollable behaviors and fantasies regarding scenarios involving their celebrities, such as “I have frequent thoughts about my favorite celebrity, even when I don’t want to” and “my favorite celebrity would immediately come to my rescue if I needed help”.

See also

References

1. McCutcheon, L. E., Lange, R., & Houran, J. (2002). Conceptualization and measurement of celebrity worship. British Journal of Psychology, 93, 67-87.

2. Maltby, J., Houran, J., Lange, R., Ashe, D., & McCutcheon, L.E. (2002). Thou Shalt Worship No Other Gods - Unless They Are Celebrities. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 1157-1172.

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Social psychology is the study of how social conditions affect human beings. Scholars in this field are generally either psychologists or sociologists, though all social psychologists employ both the individual and the group as their units of analysis.
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celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin verb "celebrere" but they may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is peaked.
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A groupie is a person who, while he/she may be a fan at some level, seeks intimacy (most often physical, sometimes emotional) with a famous person.

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