Predicting the stalking of celebrities from measures of persistent pursuit and threat directed toward celebrities, sensation seeking and celebrity worship

Abstract

The stalking of celebrities is a serious issue for thousands of celebrities worldwide who are occasionally confronted by fans who merit the label “fanatic.” We administered measures of obnoxious celebrity stalking, celebrity worship, persistent pursuit of celebrities, threat directed toward celebrities, boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience seeking, thrill and adventure seeking, relationship styles, and anger to 596 college students from the U.S.A. We developed a model consisting of all but the latter five measures that successfully predicted actual obnoxious stalking behaviors of celebrities. Our results partially replicate earlier research and presents some new findings. Individuals who have personal thoughts about their favorite celebrity frequently, feel compelled to learn more about them, pursue them consistently, threatened to harm them and were prone to boredom were more likely to engage in celebrity stalking. Controlling for these predictors, individuals who admire their favorite celebrity almost exclusively because of their ability to entertain were less likely to engage in celebrity stalking.