CELEBRITY WORSHIP (Intense fandom, Celebrity worship, Stalking)

STALKING is the repeated following and harrassing of another person that threatens their safety

ATTATCHMENT THEORY - MCCUTCHEON

The theory is rooted in developmental psychology, instead of looking at social aspects of lives (i.e lonliness ) it focuses on childood and how insecure attatchmets cause people to be attracted to parasocial relationships that make no demands on a person.

Internal working model - Bowlby 

Childhood attachment relationships provide a template for adult relationships

Insecure attatchment in childhood = to less secure and functional relationships in adulthood. 

Stalking is a example of a extereme dysfuncional relationship.

KEINLEN - 3 MOTIVATIONS OF STALKERS.

Preoccupied stalker = Poor self image, seeks for approval, stalking is result of real/imagined rejection and attempts to restore positive sense of self.

Fearful stalker = Poor self image, others are unreliable/unsupportive, stalking is a result of wanting to help self image however rejecting due to lack of trust. Stalking boosts negative self image.

Dismissing stalker = Inflated self image, distant from others. Stalks out of revenge.

Kienlan studied 25 stalkers in prison and found a common correlational variable, they had experienced rejection 6 months prior to stalking e.g divorce.

STUDY - MCCUTCHEON - RESEARCH INTO STALKING

Asked 299 male and female students aged 16-42 to complete four measurements, on:

Celeb Attitude scale (how strongly someone agree/disagrees with a statement)

Staking scale (giving stalking scenarios and rate if it is acceptable or not),

Relationship questionnaire (measuring attatchment type),

Parental questionnaire (measure early relationships with their parents)

Found that there was a relationship between stalking attitudes and insecure attatchment. The study suggests extreme celebrity worship (stalking behaviour) is associated with early childhood development of attatchment, Insecure attatchments can produce later psychological problems.

EVALUATION

Ethics = no ones behaviour was maniuplated/deceived, study was ethical

Attitudes not behaviour = …