RUcore: Rutgers University Community Repository
Objects of primary value:
Descriptive
TypeOfResource
Text
TitleInfo
Title
Objects of primary value:
SubTitle
fame, celebrity, and the quest for symbolic immortality
Identifier
(type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.13461
Identifier
ETD_224
Identifier
(type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T33J3DD1
Language
LanguageTerm
(authority = ISO 639-3:2007)
English
Genre
(authority = marcgt)
theses
Subject
(authority = RUETD)
Topic
Psychology
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Motivation (Psychology)
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Personality and motivation
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Self-perception
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Mortality
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Fear of death
Abstract
(type = abstract)
Research guided by Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) has provided powerful evidence that reminders of death motivate defensive behaviors designed to preserve self-esteem and buffer against the conscious awareness of personal mortality. Fascination with fame and celebrity are posited to be important within the TMT framework, as they reflect the human need for symbolic immortality, whether direct or vicarious. The present research examined three basic hypotheses. First, reminders of death should lead individuals to view fame and celebrity as particularly desirable for the self, and to greater fascination with celebrities. Second, the experience of vicarious fame should protect individuals from the threat of mortality salience, thus reducing their need to engage in terror managing worldview defensive behavior. Third, the belief that one has the potential to achieve celebrity should afford the protective worldview provided by fame and celebrity, and reduce subsequent worldview defense. Three experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses. Study 1 examined the relationship between reminders of death (mortality salience), valuing fame and celebrity for the self, and ratings of celebrity related information. Celebrity information (but not valuing fame and celebrity for the self) was viewed more favorably by individuals reminded of their death, provided they expressed anxiety. Study 2 examined whether vicarious fame might serve to reduce terror managing worldview defensive responses following mortality salience. Support for the hypothesized effect in Study 2 was not found; instead, an unexpected and opposite effect was observed, such that increased mortality salience led to decreased worldview defense. Study 3 examined whether celebrity potential would reduce worldview defensive behavior following reminders of death. This hypothesis was not supported. However, learning one has any chance of becoming a celebrity was comforting to individuals when mortality was salient. Furthermore, results from Study 1 and 3 suggest that women may value celebrity and fame more than men. Taken as a whole, the research represents an important first step in understanding the role of fame and celebrity within the Terror Management Theory framework.
PhysicalDescription
Extent
viii, 104 pages
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application/pdf
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Note
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Ph.D.
Note
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Includes bibliographical references (p.96-103).
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Dohn
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Matthew C.
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author
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Matthew Dohn
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Rudman
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Laurie
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chair
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Laurie A. Rudman
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Wilder
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David
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internal member
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Advisory Committee
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David A. Wilder
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(type = family)
Ogilvie
NamePart
(type = given)
Daniel
Role
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internal member
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Advisory Committee
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Daniel M. Ogilvie
Name
(type = personal)
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(type = family)
Solomon
NamePart
(type = given)
Sheldon
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
outside member
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Advisory Committee
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Sheldon Solomon
Name
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NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
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degree grantor
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NamePart
Graduate School-New Brunswick
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school
OriginInfo
DateCreated
(qualifier = exact)
2007
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(type = degree)
2007
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NjNbRU
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TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
(type = local)
rucore19991600001
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
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(ID = 1)
Name
Matthew Dohn
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School-New Brunswick
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Type
Permission or license
Detail
Non-exclusive ETD license
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Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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230912
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