Celebrity Worship Syndrome has been identified as “falling under the category of Fanaticism-a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for a religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby” (Juan 1).
The roots of CWS have been noted as being within the “nature of man” (Juan 1), in that attempts to embody the qualities and virtues of those who represent powerful positions within society are characteristic of human behavior. However, while being a “fan” and suffering from the psychologically diagnosable CWS, fall on a sliding scale of “fandom.”
“Celebrity Worship,” a term coined originally by Dr. Lynn E. McCutcheon (use graphs from the link for this in the lit review/research), was studied in 2002 by McCutcheon and a team of collaborators who created the “Celebrity Attitute Scale” to measure the degree to which a fan’s behavior performed (McCutcheon 68). Using a 34 item scale, her team ranked fans from what was qualified as “normal” behavior, such as watching, listening to, or reading about a celebrity, to what was seen as been the more obsessive side of celebrity worship. This characterization of unhealthy worship was marked by a ‘parasocial’ or one-sided engagement with the celebrity in which, empathy, over-identification and obsession were involved in a fan’s relationship with a certain celebrity or fandom (McCutcheon 70).
This two-camp diagnosis method of Celebrity Worship is unwaveringly seen as a psychiatric condition when a fan is evaluated as being on the upper end of the worship scale. However, research and a study published by Dr. John Maltby revised the more simple and polar analysis of celebrity worship. Maltby and his team were the first to use the term “Celebrity Worship Syndrome,” and delved deeper into understanding the psychological condition in creating a continuum-style diagnosis in 2008, rather than suggesting that a fan was either in the ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ range of worship (Maltby).
Dr. Maltby’s study contained three dimensions of worship: The Entertainment-Social Dimension, which “relates to attitudes where individuals are attracted to a celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain and to become a social focus of conversation with like-minded others”; The Intense-Personal Dimension, which “relates to individuals that have intensive and compulsive feelings about a celebrity”; The Borderline-Pathological Dimension, which “relates to individuals who display uncontrollable behaviors and fantasies relating to a celebrity” (Maltby 2008).
While those who fall into the first dimension within Maltby’s study have been found to employ their worship for a social usage and connect to others within their immediate, communities, those who fall in the opposite range are seen to face negative consequences when they generate relationships with icons who they will more than likely never personally know. As such, the one sided relationship that is formed can often take one of two forms, love or hate, differing from the the normal scale or range of emotions in a personal relationship. This love or hate has been documented to have caused intense stalking, violation, or even kidnapping and killing of the celebrity that one is worshipping when the fan feels isolated by a lack of reciprocation (Houran).
Those fan members who fall in the middle range of the scale have also been seen to have faced negative pathological impacts; these include “high anxiety, more depression, high stress levels, increased illness, poorer body image” in results measured by Maltby’s research in the UK.
When isolating the effects of CWS on adolescents, especially females between 14 and 16 years old, a strong relationship exists “ between intense-personal celebrity worship and body image (i.e., those teenage girls who identify with celebrities have much poorer body image compared to other groups studied). Similarly, “Maltby’s team’s research also seems to indicate that the most celebrity-obsessed individuals often suffer high levels of dissociation and fantasy-proneness”(Griffiths).
This sliding scale of worship can ultimately resemble addiction, according to the British Journal of Psychology. Of the 600 individuals surveyed in Maltby’s study, a striking 30% were shown to fall within the obsessive or “addictive range.” According to MD Eric Hollander, those who fall into that 30% are using celebrity idolization as a substitute for real life relationships -- a cycle in which the diversion from one’s own life and total focus of energy onto the life of a celebrity can cause depression, anxiety and self-hatred.
My research and civic engagement project is being done in an effort to understand the ways in which celebrity worship, or having the Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS) can actually be made into a positive trait. I am looking into the ways in which, once diagnosed, CWS can be supported to better oneself, one’s child, or one’s peer.
Bibliography
The roots of CWS have been noted as being within the “nature of man” (Juan 1), in that attempts to embody the qualities and virtues of those who represent powerful positions within society are characteristic of human behavior. However, while being a “fan” and suffering from the psychologically diagnosable CWS, fall on a sliding scale of “fandom.”
“Celebrity Worship,” a term coined originally by Dr. Lynn E. McCutcheon (use graphs from the link for this in the lit review/research), was studied in 2002 by McCutcheon and a team of collaborators who created the “Celebrity Attitute Scale” to measure the degree to which a fan’s behavior performed (McCutcheon 68). Using a 34 item scale, her team ranked fans from what was qualified as “normal” behavior, such as watching, listening to, or reading about a celebrity, to what was seen as been the more obsessive side of celebrity worship. This characterization of unhealthy worship was marked by a ‘parasocial’ or one-sided engagement with the celebrity in which, empathy, over-identification and obsession were involved in a fan’s relationship with a certain celebrity or fandom (McCutcheon 70).
This two-camp diagnosis method of Celebrity Worship is unwaveringly seen as a psychiatric condition when a fan is evaluated as being on the upper end of the worship scale. However, research and a study published by Dr. John Maltby revised the more simple and polar analysis of celebrity worship. Maltby and his team were the first to use the term “Celebrity Worship Syndrome,” and delved deeper into understanding the psychological condition in creating a continuum-style diagnosis in 2008, rather than suggesting that a fan was either in the ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ range of worship (Maltby).
Dr. Maltby’s study contained three dimensions of worship: The Entertainment-Social Dimension, which “relates to attitudes where individuals are attracted to a celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain and to become a social focus of conversation with like-minded others”; The Intense-Personal Dimension, which “relates to individuals that have intensive and compulsive feelings about a celebrity”; The Borderline-Pathological Dimension, which “relates to individuals who display uncontrollable behaviors and fantasies relating to a celebrity” (Maltby 2008).
While those who fall into the first dimension within Maltby’s study have been found to employ their worship for a social usage and connect to others within their immediate, communities, those who fall in the opposite range are seen to face negative consequences when they generate relationships with icons who they will more than likely never personally know. As such, the one sided relationship that is formed can often take one of two forms, love or hate, differing from the the normal scale or range of emotions in a personal relationship. This love or hate has been documented to have caused intense stalking, violation, or even kidnapping and killing of the celebrity that one is worshipping when the fan feels isolated by a lack of reciprocation (Houran).
Those fan members who fall in the middle range of the scale have also been seen to have faced negative pathological impacts; these include “high anxiety, more depression, high stress levels, increased illness, poorer body image” in results measured by Maltby’s research in the UK.
When isolating the effects of CWS on adolescents, especially females between 14 and 16 years old, a strong relationship exists “ between intense-personal celebrity worship and body image (i.e., those teenage girls who identify with celebrities have much poorer body image compared to other groups studied). Similarly, “Maltby’s team’s research also seems to indicate that the most celebrity-obsessed individuals often suffer high levels of dissociation and fantasy-proneness”(Griffiths).
This sliding scale of worship can ultimately resemble addiction, according to the British Journal of Psychology. Of the 600 individuals surveyed in Maltby’s study, a striking 30% were shown to fall within the obsessive or “addictive range.” According to MD Eric Hollander, those who fall into that 30% are using celebrity idolization as a substitute for real life relationships -- a cycle in which the diversion from one’s own life and total focus of energy onto the life of a celebrity can cause depression, anxiety and self-hatred.
My research and civic engagement project is being done in an effort to understand the ways in which celebrity worship, or having the Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS) can actually be made into a positive trait. I am looking into the ways in which, once diagnosed, CWS can be supported to better oneself, one’s child, or one’s peer.
Bibliography
- "Celebrity Worship Syndrome." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2015.
- Juan, Angelica San. "A Conceptual Analysis on Celebrity Worship Syndrome." A Conceptual Analysis on Celebrity Worship Syndrome. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2015.
- Maltby, John, Liza Day, Lynn E. Mccutcheon, Raphael Gillett, James Houran, and Diane D. Ashe. "Personality and Coping: A Context for Examining Celebrity Worship and Mental Health." British Journal of Psychology95.4 (2004): 411-28. Web.
- Maltby, John, James Houran, and Lynn E. Mccutcheon. "A Clinical Interpretation Of Attitudes And Behaviors Associated With Celebrity Worship." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 191.1 (2003): 25-29. Web.
- McCutcheon, L. E., Lange, R., & Houran, J. (2002). Conceptualization and measurement of celebrity worship. British Journal of Psychology, 93, 67–87
- "When Celebrity Worship Leads to Mental Problems | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 04 Mar. 2006. Web. 06 Aug. 2015.