Monday 7 January 2013

Lyndahere And Celebrity Worship Syndrome...My interpretation.

An article in the UK Mail on Celebrity Worship Syndrome provided an overview of some research being done on the condition by psychologists at the University of Leicester. Celebrity Worship Syndrome is defined by Wikipedia as an “obsessive-addictive disorder in which a person becomes overly involved with the details of a celebrity's  personal life. Psychologists have indicated that though many people obsess over glamorous film, television, sport and pop stars, the only common factor between them is that they are all figures in the public eye (i.e., celebrities)”.

The basis of the article was from the research conducted by Maltby et al (2003) in their article “A Clinical Interpretation of Attitudes and Behaviors Associated with Celebrity Worship”. They developed a scale and argue there are three levels of attitudes and behaviours associated with Celebrity Worship Syndrome, entertainment-social, intense personal and borderline pathological.

The study of around 700 people aged 18 to 60 found “ 22 per cent of our sample had the low-level form of Celebrity Worship Syndrome (entertainment-social), while 12 per cent showed signs of the moderate (intense personal) form which meant they had an intense personal type relationship with their idol. Around 2 per cent of people had the most serious form of the syndrome, meaning their celebrity worship was borderline pathological."(UK Mail).

Maltby et al (2004) provides an overview of the three levels in the article Personality coping. A context for examining celebrity worship and mental heath’. Low levels of celebrity worship have entertainment–social value and comprise attitudes and behaviours like ‘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’. This stage reflects social aspects to celebrity worship and is consistent with Stever’s (1991) observation that fans are attracted to a favourite celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain and capture our attention”.

Intermediate levels of celebrity worship, by contrast, are characterized by more intense–personal feelings, defined by items like ‘I consider my favourite celebrity to be my soul mate,’ and ‘I have frequent thoughts about my celebrity, even when I don’t want to’. This stage arguably reflects individuals’ intensive and compulsive feelings about the celebrity, akin to the obsessional tendencies of fans often referred to in the literature (Dietz et al., 1991; Giles, 2000)”.

The most extreme expression of celebrity worship is labelled borderline–pathological, as exemplified by items like. ‘If someone gave me several thousand dollars (pounds) to do with as I please, I would consider spending it on a personal possession (like a napkin or paper plate) once used by my favourite celebrity’ and ‘If I were lucky enough to meet my favourite celebrity, and he/she asked me to do something illegal as a favour I would probably do it’. This factor is thought to reflect an individual’s social pathological attitudes and behaviours that are held as a result of worshiping a celebrity”.

The researchers in this piece conclude celebrity worship syndrome was not an uncommon behaviour. They argue like many attitudes and behaviours carried out in moderation should not be of concern. Celebrity worship for entertainment and social reasons was not related to any mental health problems. However, when carried out for intense personal reasons and the way they engage people may be at risk of severe mental health problems including stress, anxiety and depression. Celebrity worship is seen as a coping strategy and a way of disengaging with life.

Therefore, it may be necessary to begin to speculate how it may be possible to intervene when celebrity worship takes on intense–personal characteristics to a point of concern. The present findings inform this issue. For example, those who engage in intense–personal forms of celebrity worship are characterized as tense, emotional and moody (neuroticism). They deal with stress by disengaging (both mentally and behavioural) and by living in a state of denial…As a result, individuals who demonstrate a worrying level of intense–personal celebrity worship and who suffer from mental health problems might be best helped by understanding and addressing their emotionality”.

So do you have CWS symptoms?
Say yes to the following and you may have low-level CWS:
  • My friends and I like to discuss what my favourite celebrity has done.
  • I enjoy watching my favourite celebrity.
  • Learning the life story of my favourite celebrity is a lot of fun.
Agree with these more intense feelings and you may have a moderate case:
  • I consider my favourite celebrity to be my soul mate.
  • I have a special bond with my celebrity.
  • I have frequent thoughts about my celebrity, even when I don't want to.
Agree with these and you may be obsessed, borderline pathological and suffering seriously from CWS:
  • If someone gave me several thousand pounds to do with as I please, I would consider spending it on a personal possession, like a napkin or paper plate, once used by my favourite celebrity.
  • If I were lucky enough to meet my favourite celebrity, and they asked me to do something illegal as a favour I would probably do it.
  • I would be very upset if my favourite celebrity got married.
The UK Mail placed this quiz for celebrity watchers to decide whether they or their friends had ‘Celebrity Worship Syndrome’. From the questions asked I guess anyone who follows a celebrity on social media and responds to a post written by them or to other followers/friends has some type of low level Celebrity Worship Syndrome. A celebrity wouldn’t be a favourite if people didn’t know something about them, seen their work or enjoyed watching them do their work. This level of interest was not associated with any mental health issues according to the research.

What was interesting about this survey was the criteria offered by psychologists for the third level borderline pathological and suffering seriously from Celebrity Worship Syndrome and the statement ‘if I were lucky enough to meet my favourite celebrity and they asked me to do something illegal as a favour I would probably do it’. Lynda Elstad or @Lyndahere did take it upon herself to do something illegal which was to make bootlegged videos of live concerts and engage in music piracy on YouTube.  She then distributed links via social media and has loaded them up onto other sites for distribution. The other statement that defines this type of condition “If someone gave me several thousand pounds to do with as I please, I would consider spending it on a personal possession, like a napkin or paper plate, once used by my favourite celebrity”. @lyndahere spends thousands of dollars on travel, accommodation and tickets to see Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea and every show creates bootlegged videos for people to view on YouTube and listen to on other sites.
References.
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., Day,L., McCutcheon,L.E., Gillett, R., Houran, J & Ashe, D.(2004). ‘Personality coping. A context for examining celebrity worship and mental health, British Journal of Psychology, 95, 411–428
Wikipedia Celebrity worship syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht. Viewed 4 January 2013.




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