Are celebrities bad for you?
Celebrities are everywhere nowadays: on TV, in magazines, online. Is this preoccupation
with famous people harmless fun or is it bad for us? How many people are truly obsessed with
modern media idols? And on the other side of the coin, can fame be harmful to the celebrities?
Studies suggest that the vast majority of teenagers do not really worship celebrities.
Researchers have identified three kinds of fans. About 15% of young people have an
‘entertainment-social’ interest. They love chatting about their favourite celebrities with friends
and this does not appear to do any harm.
Another 5% feel that they have an ‘intense-personal’ relationship with a
celebrity. Sometimes they see them as their soulmate and find that they are often thinking about
them, even when they don’t want to. These people are more at risk from depression and anxiety.
If girls in this group idolise a female star with a body they consider to be perfect, they are more
likely to be unhappy with their own bodies.
That leaves 2% of young people with a ‘borderline-pathological’ interest. They might
say, for example, they would spend several thousand pounds on a paper plate the celebrity had
used, or that they would do something illegal if the celebrity asked them to. These people are in
most danger of being seriously disturbed.
What about the celebrities themselves? A study in the USA tried to measure narcissism or
extreme self-centredness, when feelings of worthlessness and invisibility are compensated for by
turning into the opposite: excessive showing off. Researchers looked at 200 celebrities, 200
young adults with Masters in Business Administration (a group known for being narcissistic) and
a nationally representative sample using the same questionnaire. As was expected, the celebrities
were significantly more narcissistic than the MBAs and both groups were a lot more narcissistic
than the general population.
Four kinds of celebrity were included in the sample. The most narcissistic were the ones
who had become famous through reality TV shows – they scored highest on vanity and
willingness to exploit other people. Next came comedians, who scored highest on exhibitionism
and feelings of superiority. Then came actors, and the least narcissistic were musicians. One
interesting result was that there was no connection between narcissism and the length of time the
celebrity had been famous. This means that becoming famous probably did not make the
celebrities narcissistic – they already were beforehand.
So, what can we learn from this? People who are very successful or famous tend to be
narcissists and are liable to be ruthless, self-seeking workaholics. As we can see from celebrity
magazines, they are also often desperate and lonely. They make disastrous role models.
Are the sentences true or false?
1. The article is about whether celebrity culture is harmful, for either the public or the celebrities
themselves.
2. 15% of teenagers have an interest in celebrities that probably isn't a cause for concern.
3. Young people who feel they have an 'intense-personal' relationship with a celebrity do not
experience any negative consequences related to it.
4. A study found that celebrities were more self-centred than business administration masters
students.
5. Celebrities from reality TV were found to be the most vain and exploitative.
6. Actors were the least self-obsessed group of celebrities.
7. The research concluded that the experience of being a celebrity made people more narcissistic
than they were previously.
8. The author says that celebrities tend to exhibit negative qualities and are therefore not good
role models.
Write the correct word from the text to fill the gaps.
1. p............ = something we think or worry about a lot (noun, paragraph 1)
2. h............ = damaging or injurious (adjective, paragraph 1)
3. w............ = have or show feelings of profound devotion (verb, paragraph 2)
4. s............ = a person with whom you feel a deep affinity or connection (noun, paragraph 3)
5. n............ = excessive interest in or admiration of oneself (noun, paragraph 5)
6. s............ o.... = behaving in a way that is intended to attract attention (phrasal verb, paragraph
5)
7. v............ = excessive pride or interest in your own attractiveness (noun, paragraph 6)
8. r...... m........ = a person we look up to and want to be like (noun, paragraph 7)
