英語時差:明星崇拜
Are you a celebrity worshiper? If so that might same something about the kind of person you are, as Yael and Don discuss in this Moment of Science. Y: What would you say your attitude is toward celebrities, Don?
D: Do you mean whether I like them?
Y: I mean are you obsessed? Do you spend hours on the Internet trying to find out what their favorite nail polish color is and whether they believe in hypnosis?
D: I'm fond of The BeeGees, but I don't think they wear nail polish and I could care less what they think about hypnosis.
Y: Okay, do you believe in a just world, that life is fair?
D: I can't pick up a newspaper without reading evidence that life is not only unfair, but often cruel.
Y: Good. What I mean is that psychologists have found that people who believe in a just world are more likely to worship celebrities, whereas people more critical of society are less likely to obsess over a celebrity. People who strongly believe in a just world believe that life is fair, that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people. People who believe in a just world are expressing acceptance of society and its institutions. Since the celebrity system is one of these institutions researchers suggest that it makes sense that those believing in a just world would be satisfied with how celebrities are made and thus more likely to admire and even obsess over them. Vice versa, people who do not believe in a fair world might resist worshipping celebrities, and in fact question or criticize the system that produces them and decides who gets to be a celebrity.
D: Don't get me started.
