A Study of Why Millennial Love Celebrities

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to understand why the millennial generation are deeply interested or obsessed with celebrities. This topic was chosen by a group of students who were curious on the heavy impact celebrities have on society today. Furthermore, the group of students wants to understand why the millennial generation specifically, are so deeply involved in celebrities. This research paper should be read because it contains information about the effects that celebrities have on people, especially on the millennial.

This paper contains information on how the millennial have transformed their lives due to their obsessions with celebrities. The main problem at hand due to celebrity obsessions, is how much of the millennial are changing and damaging their lives, physically and mentally. The research paper seeks to better understand these problems and how they occur. This research was done by using social media as a main source to search the past effects that has taken over young adults when they have a strong obsession with celebrities. After doing research and putting together this research paper, it has been concluded that due to technology and social media, celebrities will never go away and will constantly have an impact, not just on the millennial, but on society.

Introduction

When discussing about the term ‘celebrity,’ many people will refer to individuals who are well-known in the public. There are three different types of celebrities that gain their fame differently. There are ascribed celebrities, whom “those are famous because of their lineage” (Rojek, 2001). Then there are achieved celebrities, whom “those who become famous from their talent in their particular field” (Rojek, 2001). Finally, there are the attributed celebrities, whom “those become famous by attracting a lot of media attention or by being associated with multiple celebrities” (Rojek, 2001). Today, celebrities have a huge impact on society, especially on the millennial, with the assistance of technology and social media.

Celebrities use these resources to share their success and lifestyle with the public, and they gain massive followings because of it. The public can constantly watch what celebrities do everyday, and they keep wanting to see more. In fact, there is a specific term that defines having an obsessive disorder in which a person becomes overly involved with all the specific details of a celebrity’s professional and personal life; that is called: celebrity worship syndrome.

To explore this question, a number of scales have been developed to assess celebrity adulation. Using the Celebrity Attitudes Scale, investigators have examined various college students. Findings reveal that the scale displayed a number of psychosocial characteristics. Examples include, being more prone to cosmetic surgery and have more concerns about body image. (Sansone, 2014).

Fans do not simply just observe celebrities, they try to change their lifestyle and mimic the celebrity’s lifestyle. Not only do fans try to impersonate the life of a celebrity, many fans develop a stalking behavior that includes physically following celebrities around. There have been many reports of fans being arrested for stalking celebrities. A known case about this type of situation involves Sandra Bullock and Joshua Corbett. “The Miss Congeniality star was the victim of a house intrusion where Joshua Corbett entered her home with a photo camera in hopes of getting a picture with the star.

Luckily, Sandy shielded herself from harms way by locking herself in a room until the police showed up and arrested the intruder” (Mazza, 2014). The lifestyle and success that celebrities show off to the public is a calling for some fans to stalk them back to their private homes. What some fans would do to see celebrities in person because they see them on their screens is interesting and worrying.

The strong obsession the public has on celebrities has struck a strong interest to the group. For the purpose of this paper, the group will mainly focus on the student’s obsession with celebrities. The group will also touch certain aspects of the effects of worshiping a celebrity as it is related to the research question. This concept was developed by Randy A. Sansone and Lori A. Sansone, whom explained the effects and characteristics that college students obtained when they worship a celebrity.

Research Question

This paper will focus on the reasons why college students are so interested or obsessed with celebrities. This paper will seek to understand the given reasons from the interviewed college students, on their interests or obsessions with celebrities. Furthermore, the group will detect if any certain emotions appear when college students expresses their feelings when talking about celebrities, specifically the Kardashians.

Rationale

Social media plays a major factor on why society today has a huge interest or obsession with celebrities. “The use of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have shaped the ways in which celebrities relate to their fans. Social media facilitates a more direct connection with celebrities, which only feeds into the cultural fervor surrounding the celebrity world” (Rojeck, 2001). With social media, fans feel involved in celebrities’ lives. Due to the personal connection that fans feel because of the directed communication allowed in social media, fans dedicate their time to have that ongoing connection. One way that fans invest their time on celebrities is by following them on all social media platforms. The fans want to be updated on anything that happens to the celebrity, whether the news is a new clothing line or new music, fans will want to know. Furthermore, fans want to know what is happening with celebrities 24/7.

Fans throw away typical priorities such as school and work to be updated on the lifestyle of celebrities. “U.S. Schools have blocked multiple social networks on their computers as students will get distracted on such sites, instead of focusing on work. In fact, studies show that British companies have lost billions of dollars per year in productivity because of social media addiction among students” (Ta, 2014). Students becoming less productive in school due to a celebrity posting photos on social media is troubling to grasp. The education that students are receiving are less important or interesting to them. Many parents invest their time and money to make sure that their kids go to school and learn. Unfortunately, due to the advancement of technology, students can access social media mobile.

Using technology to go on social media and find out what celebrities have posted, has become a new activity for many people. “Getting too involved with social media and worrying constantly about what celebrities post on social media sites, can lead to an addiction that can damage your health.” (Karadkar, 2015). The health of students shouldn’t even be a concern with celebrity obsession, but apparently, it is majorly involved. Students staring at a screen for a long period of time, looking to see what celebrities are up to, not only damage the pupils, but to the human body. No physical activity for the human body leads to gaining weight.

Obviously, because of seeing how much social media is used every day to discover content from celebrities is one of the reasons why the group chose to do this topic. This is because none of the group members even realized that there is much time dedicated in finding information on celebrities, then there is in doing school work. In fact, the group members were surprised to discover that students talk about celebrities as much as they go on social media. Most conversations between students are usually about celebrities.

Just this year, Chinese researchers observed the physical effects of celebrity scandal on our brains. In a study published in the journal Social Neuroscience, researchers had 17 student volunteers hear bits of gossip about global issues, and a famous celebrity. The subjects of gossip ranged from positive to negative. All of this was done while the volunteers underwent brain scans. The students were asked how each bit of gossip made them feel once they were done. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the students admitted they preferred to hear positive gossip about themselves and negative gossip about their friends and celebrities.

However, while they claimed they had no preference over who they heard negative gossip about, their brain activity showed otherwise. Among these participants, the caudate nucleus — a brain region associated with pleasure and reward — showed “moderately strong” activity when the students were told negative celebrity gossip. What’s more, brain scans also showed activity in regions associated with self-control when the participants heard celebrity gossip. This suggested the students were trying to hide just how much they enjoyed hearing about a star’s public downfall (Dovey, 2015).

Celebrity gossip does not have the same level of importance as to conversations about politics, the economy, and world peace. However, students would rather enjoy talking about “bad news.”. Because of celebrity gossip, the more important issues are no longer talked about. Important matters such as; people losing their jobs because stores are closing down, climate change, companies going bankrupt, families losing homes, are ignored or not talked about because those conservations do not bring enjoyment or satisfaction when talking about it. Celebrity gossip drags important topics to the side and this leads people to become unaware of what is happening in this world.

All of these reasons discussed in this paper are why the group decided to choose this topic. School, education, and health go into affect due to celebrity obsession. Although, this issue has not been exposed to the public enough, which is also why we decided to choose this topic. The research question: Can People Name all the Members of the Kardashian Family, is what can help us understand if students are actually involved with the lifestyle of celebrities. This question can help us figure out if students can name every single member of the celebrity family, then obviously, the students have a bit more knowledge then knowing the names of the Kardashian family.

Conclusion

As long as social media continues to be used, and technology continues to improve, celebrities will never go away. Celebrities will continue to form and people will continue to be involved and obsessed with. Although, this research can aid individuals, who are either obsessed with celebrities or not, to better understand the causes and effects of celebrity obsession.