1. The Psychology of Celebrity Celerity comes from the French ‘celebre’ meaning well known

2. What you need to study Para-social relationships – definintions and measurements Development of PSR Functions/explanations of PSR Positive versus pathological explanations

3. Para Social Relationships -PSR These are one way relationships with people we feel we know but have never met They appear relatively normal They are in many ways just like real relationships Attractiveness & similarity both seem important factors

4. PSR PSR are psychologically real to those that are experiencing them (Derrick et al 2007) The concept was first introduced in 1956 by Horton and Wohl These relationships can be positive or negative.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up? 2008 survey found over a quarter of children stated that they wanted to be a celebrity, with three of three of the top five career choices named involving celebrity status.

6. National Kids’ Day Surveys for children under 10 2006: Being a celebrity was rated as the ‘very best thing in the world’, second came looks and third came being rich (God came 10 th ) 2008: Simon Cowell was rated as the most famous person in the world with God second and the Queen third.

7. The new Religion Schumaker (2003) points out that there seems to be an association between the decline of organised religion and fascination with celebrity

8. Measuring PSR Most widely used scale is the Celebrity Attitude Scale (McCutcheon 2002) 23 items on a Likert scale 3 Subscales 1. Entertainment/social 2. Intense/personal 3. Borderline/pathological. This is a fairly stable measure of PSR

9. Examples from scale: My friend and I like to discuss what X has done I consider X to be my soul mate If X asked me to do something illegal as a favour I would probably do it. 5 point scale for all statements ranging from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree.

10. 3 Levels of PSR correspond to subscales Level 1 1. Entertainment-social – attracted to celebrity for entertainment/source of enjoyment

11. Level 2 2. Intense personal – intense engagement and feelings of personal relationship – the hardcore fan

12. Level 3 3. Borderline Pathological – obsessional/stalking.

13. ‘Food for thought!’ Using this with 600 University Students McCutcheon found: 10% fell into category 2 - Intense personal 1% fell into category 3 – Borderline Pathological