Research into Intense Fandom

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Celebrity worship
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Terms in this set (8)
Celebrity worship
Can be measured on the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), higher levels showed an over-identification with celebs and obsessive behaviours - studied students and workers and found that over 1/3 were on the midpoints of CAS, later study of 372 people aged 18-47 found that 15% were level 1, 5% were level 2 and 2% were level 3
In a survey of 833 Chinese teens, was found that idol worship was associated with lower levels of work and self-esteem
Data from 307 UK adults shied that scores on level 2 predicted depression and anxiety scores - concluding that celeb worship is a behavioural representation of poor mental health which results from failed attempts to escape from everyday life
Against Celeb worship
Chinese researchers also found that teens who worshipped family members or teachers, with whom they had regular contact, tended to demonstrate higher levels of self-esteem and educational achievement than those who worshipped celebs
Support for celeb worship
Evolutionary approach supports as it suggests that human nature is to look up to people who have succeeded in society - for our ancestors, it would have meant respecting good hunting and elders, however, because hunting is no longer needed, we value those who are successful, like celebs, and they become a valuable role model
Support for celeb worship
Evidence for high celeb worship and poor mental health - after many celeb suicides, there is a spike in suicide in general within the public, it has been said that this is because the suicide of the celebs is glamourised by their lives
Celebrity stalking
Involves repeated and persistent attempts to impose unwanted communication on another person
1/5 stalkers develop a love obsession with another person - they suffer from delusional thoughts and may suffer from a mental disorder, because they are unable to from real rels, they create a fantasy with the celeb at the centre of it
Simple stalker is obsessional and has had a previous personal rel with the victim before the stalking started
A pre-occupied attachment style has been linked with celeb stalking - they have a poor self-image and a positive image of others and so seek approval from them
Against celeb stalking
Difficult to judge stalking because fans are encouraged to be adoring, also problems with anti-stalking legislation as some of the techniques stalkers use are basic rights and freedoms which are outlined in the law, e.g. Being in the same place as the celeb they are stalking
Support for celeb stalking
Compared stalkers to 2 other groups, 24 people detained with mental health problems but with no history of stalking and a non-clinical group of 33 - found that the stalkers had significantly more evidence of an insecure adult attachment than the control group
Support for celeb stalking
Real world application - found that people with low self-esteem were motivated to approach others for validation and more prone to celeb stalking, has a number of implications - police now have a profile of the unsub and persistent offenders can be helped by designing an intervention