2 ENGLISH The interest in celebrity lives and lifestyles have been increasing as a trend as millennial generation tend to obsess and worship them a bit too much. This preoccupation of obsession and interests is broadly associated with the nature and culture of entertainment in the modern times. It is not new that people tend to show interest and curiosity in celebrity lives, but as the entertainment industry has grown in the years, so have the interest obsession too. Let’s discuss this trend of fascination with celebrities, their living and whereabouts in details through this post. The growing fascination towards celebs have been read and scrutinized to a great degree to get to the motivations behind the same. It is debatable whether or not it is healthy as a practice to worship or obsess over celebrity lives and choices to the extent of being influenced and sometimes even replicating them for acceptance or conformation. Some people are often seen being attracted celebrities, which is an act of getting over their inadequacies, which can also be referred to suffering from empty self. On the other hand, people also revere and feel allured by
3 ENGLISH celebrities for their creativity, and thus they seek out, which is often described in terms of creating connections from the social self.
4 ENGLISH Celebrity worship can be understood with the help of a theory which was developed by Lynn McCutcheon which states that these behavior and patterns are motivated by both of their social and empty selves (Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Martin & Cayanus, 2004). However, the theory is more interesting as they aim to probe into such obsession and worship, which is much intense in nature and are studied from a pathological perspective, like being on a continuum. In other words, it can be said that on a relatively normal state they are governed by their social selves, while on a deeper level, the motivation come from the empty selves, which may as well tend to be abnormal in nature. It is very common between friends to talk about celebrities and various entertainment elements, which enhance social connections as well as become an entertainment activity itself. However, these might as well be at the mildest level of celebrity obsession or worship. On the contrary if one relates and grows interest over celebrity and their personal lives, on an intense and personal level, it is considered to be on a deeper level, for which one may tend to grow
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5 ENGLISH preoccupation more than what is regarded as normal. The third categorization is graded as borderline pathological, in which one tends to be severely obsessive to an extent to preserve false beliefs and even erotomania. When one obsessed to the extent of reaching the deepest level, he or she may as well tend to ignore their social lives, friends, facilities and day to day activities, and engage in other activities, such as day dreaming and stalking. McCutcheon identifies this to be addictive, for which one feeds the thoughts to satiate their own obsession and interest which gives rise to negative outcomes (Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Martin & Cayanus, 2004). If a closer attention is paid to such behavior and patterns of obsession, it can be found out that one may tend to even develop low self-esteem, feeling inadequate about the things which exist in reality and thus poor satisfaction in life. AT the deepest level of celebrity obsession, when they daydream and try to connect with their subject of admiration and adoration, people tend to suffer from anxiety, depression and even neuroticism. Another study has revealed that these social needs which are developed by people while obsessing are often met through social surrogates, which the author says, is symbolic in nature (Gabriel, Valenti & Young, 2016). Social surrogates might be in the form of narratives, stories which are either real or fictional, television, books and even movies, through which people engage in para-social interactions and relationship. These relationships are one sided which involve a character or a celebrity. This boosts the self-esteem as they tend to believe that they have a relationship, and thus indulge themselves. Social media is one of the mediums which help people who obsess to actually connect with their subject of adoration, or the celebrities, which help them develop connections which go beyond para-social relationships (Zsila, McCutcheon & Demetrovics, 2018). It can be exemplified when one studies behavior and attitudes of fan base of celebrities, who are devoted.
6 ENGLISH The growing trend of celebrity worship is alarming as well as fascinating to study however, it is very important to keep in mind, the negative outcomes, if one indulges in obsession and worship of celebrities, out of poor self-esteem and inadequacy.
7 ENGLISH References Gabriel, S., Valenti, J., & Young,A. F. (2016). Social surrogates, social motivations, and everyday activities: The case for a strong, subtle, and sneaky social self. InAdvances in experimental social psychology(Vol. 53, pp. 189-243). Academic Press. Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L. E., Martin, M. M., & Cayanus, J. L. (2004). Celebrity worship,cognitiveflexibility,andsocialcomplexity.PersonalityandIndividual Differences,37(7), 1475-1482. Zsila, Á., McCutcheon, L. E., & Demetrovics, Z. (2018). The association of celebrity worship with problematic Internet use, maladaptivedaydreaming, and desire for fame.Journal of behavioral addictions,7(3), 654-664. Bibliography Ang, C. S., & Chan, N. N. (2018). Adolescents’ views on celebrity worship: A qualitative study.Current Psychology,37(1), 139-148.