Celebrities: From Teachers to Friends

Abstract

In this paper we present two compatible hypotheses to explain interest in celebrity gossip. The Learning Hypothesis explains interest in celebrity gossip as a by-product of an evolved mechanism useful for acquiring fitness-relevant survival information. The Parasocial Hypothesis sees celebrity gossip as a diversion of this mechanism, which leads individuals to misperceive celebrities as people who are part of their social network. Using two preliminary studies, we tested our predictions. In a survey with 838 respondents and in-depth interviews with 103 individuals, we investigated how interest in celebrity gossip was related to several dimensions of the participants' social lives. In support of the Learning Hypothesis, age proved to be a strong predictor of interest in celebrities. In partial support of the Parasocial Hypothesis, media exposure, but not social isolation, was a strong predictor of interest in celebrities. The preliminary results support both theories, indicate that across our life span celebrities move from being teachers to being friends, and open up a list of future research opportunities.

Finding meaning in a celebrity’s death: The relationship between parasocial attachment, grief, and sharing educational health information related to Robin Williams on social network sites

“…Support for the celebrity learning hypothesis suggests that people maybe hard-wired to attend to and share information about celebrities. Celebrity focus could serve an adaptive function, because knowing about (and sometimes modeling) high-status individuals in society can provide valuable lessons about how to increase one's own status (see De Backer, Nelissen, Vyncke, Braeckman, & McAndrew, 2007). Furthermore, because celebrities are well known and considered to be high-status, they provide a common point of discussion in society, and there is usually a high level of motivation to seek out and share information about them.…”

“…First, information is generally readily available about celebrities (Dean, 2016). Second, because celebrities represent success and are well known by others, individuals are highly motivated to discuss them with others (e.g., De Backer et al, 2007). Celebrity deaths are events that may be particularly likely to prompt social sharing, in part, because they elicit negative affect.…”

When Strangers Start to Gossip: Investigating the Effect of Gossip on Cooperation in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

“…The gossip used in this experiment actually differed from the gossip used in the studies by Bosson and colleagues. To explain this, we refer to the work of De Backer et al (2007), who distinguish between gossip information that is focused on the behavior (called strategy learning gossip) vs. gossip information that is focused on the person (called reputation gossip). Strategy learning gossip can be about anyone, whereas reputation gossip is about people we know, directly or indirectly.…”

Virtual gossip: How gossip regulates moral life in virtual worlds

“…Gossip can also be informative in the sense of delivering information about specific others, what De Backer et al (2007) labelled 'reputation gossip'. Especially knowing who is to be trusted (or not) is information widely shared via gossip (e.g.…”