Lecture notes
Lecture notes: PS1810: Celebrity Worship
- Institution
- University Of Winchester (UoW)
Semester 1 PS1810 notes. Written in 2020/21
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
PS1810 – WEEK 8 – Celebrity worshipCelebrity in psychology
Media psychology: relatively new field (Giles, 2010) but already struggling with online
challenges
Celebrity studies: also new – journal in 2010 – but ‘multidisciplinary’. So far, rather limited
role of psychology
Communication research
Mostly outside UK, many social psychologists in field of communication
Focus on audiences more generally, and here too challenged by digital culture
Celebrity worship in psychology
Some connection between religion and fandom (Giles, 2000)
McCutcheon et al. 2002: first empirical research
‘celebrity worship scale’ (CWS) to measure levels of worship
Psychometric scale
‘Likert-type’ scale
High score: high level of celebrity worship
Initial findings
33 items given to 249 participants (10 to 68 yrs)
Music and sport celebrities received highest ratings
Men scored higher than women
Authors proposed an ‘absorption-addiction model’ to explain findings
High interest (absorption) leads to obsession and ‘over-identification’ with celebrity
May be triggered by failure of own relationships
Subsequent research with CWS
John Maltby and colleagues found that CWS broke down into 3 subscales
Entertainment-social
Intense-personal
Borderline-pathological
Correlations with psychological variables
Maltby et al. (2004)
- I-P subscale associated with poorer mental health
Maltby et al. (2006)
- I-P and B-P scales correlated with OCD behaviours
Giles & Maltby (2004): teenagers, total CWS with:
- High emotional autonomy
- High peer attachment
- Low parental attachment
- Celebrities as ‘pseudo-friends’ during transition?
Recent research
Zisla et al. (2019):
- Path analysis
Relationship between CWS and pathology explained by:
- Desire for fame
- ‘maladaptive daydreaming’
A statistical quirk?
Huh (2012) found that CWS scores were positively correlated with 2D:4D digit ratio in
females (not males)
Suggested this reflected on role of testosterone
But digit ratio research highly controversial
Stever (2011): critique of celebrity worship
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller olkaaa. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £7.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67866 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now