Intimate Relationships and Attitudes Toward Celebrities

Authors

  • Lynn E. McCutcheon
    Editor, North American Journal of Psychology, Winter Garden, FL, USA
  • Meghan M. Gillen
    Pennsylvania State University, Abington, PA, USA
  • Blaine L. Browne
    Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA, USA
  • Michael P. Murtagh
    Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD, USA
  • Brian Collisson
    Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA, USA

Abstract

Previous research indicates that persons who self-report a high level of preoccupation with celebrities tend to have lower levels of well-being. We administered the “Romantic Partner Conflict Scale”, the “Love Attitudes Scale”, the soulmate subscale from the “Relationship Theories Questionnaire”, and the anxiety subscale from the “Experiences in Close Relationships Scale” to 330 students from four universities to see how well scores on these measures would predict scores on each of the three subscales from the “Celebrity Attitude Scale” (CAS). We predicted that persons whose scores on these measures of intimate relationships indicated a troubled, anxious, or poor quality relationship would have higher scores on the CAS, especially on its two problematic subscales. In three multiple regressions, specific measures of behavior during conflict with a romantic partner and certain love styles significantly predicted scores on all three of the CAS subscales. We discuss the implications of being a celebrity worshiper on one’s relationship with an intimate partner.