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The Stigmatization of People with a History of Mental Illness by Those Who Admire Celebrities

2014; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

1527-7143

Jennifer L. Price, Robert Jay Lowinger, William Jenkins, Lynn E. McCutcheon,

Impact of Technology on Adolescents

In the last decade there has been a proliferation of research on persons who are enthralled with celebrities--persons who have been termed More than two dozen studies using a reliable and valid measure of interest in celebrities have appeared in print, and we now know quite a bit about those who admire celebrities. For example, those who are absorbed or addicted to their favorite celebrity are also prone to narcissism (Ashe, Maltby, & McCutcheon, 2005), likely to have poor mental health (Maltby, Houran, & McCutcheon, 2003; Maltby, McCutcheon, Ashe, & Houran, 2001), and show addictive and criminal personality traits (Sheridan, North, Maltby, & Gillett, 2007). Given the serious implications stemming from this line of research, it behooves us to learn as much as possible about celebrity worshippers. Another of the generalizations that has emerged from this body of research is that about 75% of the favorite celebrities chosen by study participants are actors, musicians, or athletes (Green, Griffith, Aruguete, Edman, & McCutcheon, 2014; McCutcheon, et al., 2004). These favorites are almost always entertainers who appear frequently on television and other social media. Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that many Americans spend so much time on social media that it heavily influences their choice of a favorite celebrity. Persons who have made noteworthy contributions to literature, medicine, religion and science are much less often shown on television, and when they are, they are typically shown briefly as part of the news or as a guest for a few minutes on a talk show. In a recent study, only six participants out of 248 chose favorite celebrities from one of these four humanitarian categories (Green, et al., 2014). Thus, it could be argued that television and other social media are not only instrumental in providing celebrities, but also in swaying the public toward the choice of an entertainer as a favorite celebrity. Indeed, a study that identified the favorite celebrities of young adults showed that 83% of them fell into the entertainer categories (actor, musician, athlete), and that many (e.g. Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice) appeared frequently in social media (Boon & Lomore, 2001). Information obtained from television news and programming, along with movie portrayals, doubtless shapes the worldview of millions who are dedicated viewers in other ways, as well. The stigmatization of persons who have had mental health problems has been widely attributed to the way these individuals have been portrayed on television and in movies (Diefenbach, 1997; Granello, 2000; Granello, Pauley, & Carmichael, 1999; Klin & Lemish, 2008; Philo, Secker, Platt, Henderson, McLaughlin, & Burnside, 1994; Stout, Villegas, & Jennings, 2004; Stuart, 2006; Wahl, 1997; Wilson, Nairn, Coverdale, & Panapa, 1999). Studies show that exposure to media portrayals of mental illness leads to misconceptions about crime and a lack of tolerance toward persons with mental illness (Granello, 2000; Granello, et al., 1999; Stout, et al., 2004; Stuart, 2006). Wilson et al. (1999) found that the criminal offense rate of mentally ill characters who had speaking parts in televised dramas was ten times greater than it was for other television characters. Wahl (1997) found that public images of mental illness contained an excessive association with comedy and violence. More specifically, Philo and colleagues (1994) found that two-thirds of media content dealing with mental health linked mental illness with violence, and two-fifths of a general sample believed the link was realistic; further, they cited the media as the source for their belief. Wilson et al. (1999) identified ten themes in television dramas relating to mental health stereotypes, nine of which were negative. The two most common themes were dangerousness and unpredictability. Collectively these findings show that social media have contributed to the stigmatization of persons who have a history of mental illness. …