Article Version of Record

An investigation of demographic correlates of the Celebrity Attitude Scale

Author(s) / Creator(s)

McCutcheon, Lynn
Aruguete, Mara S.
Jenkins, William
McCarley, Nancy
Yockey, Ronald

Abstract / Description

The Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) has been widely used in the last 15 years, but little is known about how ethnicity and socioeconomic status relate to scores on this scale. In the first of two studies, we showed that a sample of African-American college students had more favorable attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than a sample of White college students. However, there was no control for the possibility that the two samples were unequal with respect to socioeconomic status. The second study controlled for that possibility, and added samples of Hispanic and Asian college students. Results showed that African-American participants again had more favorable attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than Whites did, with Hispanic and Asian-American participants falling in between the two extremes. Socioeconomic status was unrelated to CAS scores. African-Americans tended to select African-American celebrities as their favorites, and Whites tended to choose Whites, with Hispanic and Asian-Americans showing no ethnic preferences. Strength of identification with one’s ethnic group was unrelated to ethnic concordance in choosing a favorite celebrity, but strength of identification with one’s ethnic group decreased as favorable attitudes toward one’s favorite celebrity increased. We discussed why African-American participants might report more attachment to their favorite celebrities than White participants.

Keyword(s)

celebrity attitudes Celebrity Attitude Scale ethnic differences socioeconomic status ethnic identification

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2016-12-23

Journal title

Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships

Volume

10

Issue

2

Page numbers

161–170

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

McCutcheon, L., Aruguete, M. S., Jenkins, W., McCarley, N., & Yockey, R. (2016). An investigation of demographic correlates of the Celebrity Attitude Scale. Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships, 10(2), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.5964/ijpr.v10i2.218
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    McCutcheon, Lynn
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Aruguete, Mara S.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Jenkins, William
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    McCarley, Nancy
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Yockey, Ronald
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-12-05T08:44:17Z
  • Made available on
    2018-12-05T08:44:17Z
  • Date of first publication
    2016-12-23
  • Abstract / Description
    The Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) has been widely used in the last 15 years, but little is known about how ethnicity and socioeconomic status relate to scores on this scale. In the first of two studies, we showed that a sample of African-American college students had more favorable attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than a sample of White college students. However, there was no control for the possibility that the two samples were unequal with respect to socioeconomic status. The second study controlled for that possibility, and added samples of Hispanic and Asian college students. Results showed that African-American participants again had more favorable attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than Whites did, with Hispanic and Asian-American participants falling in between the two extremes. Socioeconomic status was unrelated to CAS scores. African-Americans tended to select African-American celebrities as their favorites, and Whites tended to choose Whites, with Hispanic and Asian-Americans showing no ethnic preferences. Strength of identification with one’s ethnic group was unrelated to ethnic concordance in choosing a favorite celebrity, but strength of identification with one’s ethnic group decreased as favorable attitudes toward one’s favorite celebrity increased. We discussed why African-American participants might report more attachment to their favorite celebrities than White participants.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    McCutcheon, L., Aruguete, M. S., Jenkins, W., McCarley, N., & Yockey, R. (2016). An investigation of demographic correlates of the Celebrity Attitude Scale. Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships, 10(2), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.5964/ijpr.v10i2.218
    en_US
  • ISSN
    1981-6472
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1748
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.2114
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/ijpr.v10i2.218
  • Keyword(s)
    celebrity attitudes
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Celebrity Attitude Scale
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    ethnic differences
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    socioeconomic status
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    ethnic identification
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    An investigation of demographic correlates of the Celebrity Attitude Scale
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    2
  • Journal title
    Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships
  • Page numbers
    161–170
  • Volume
    10
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record