This study tested common predictions from the absorption‐addiction model of celebrity worship and the empty self theory. A sample of 171 university students completed a set of scales that included celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying, as well as self‐concept clarity, and several other measures of well‐being, such as boredom proneness, self‐esteem, and life satisfaction. As predicted, materialism and compulsive buying were significantly correlated with celebrity worship, extending research on the empty self theory. Celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying were significantly related to lower self‐concept clarity and to lower levels of well‐being, supporting both absorption‐addiction and empty self theories. The results provide clear evidence for absorption‐addiction and empty self theory predictions of a compromised identity. Implications for future research were discussed.

The desire for fame appears to be an aspiration for many people, which is associated with material wealth, social recognition, and admiration. Recently, reality TV has provided the opportunity for ordinary people to become famous with little effort or outstanding achievement. A literature review revealed no scale to measure the desire for fame that is not specifically concerned with celebrity worship or personality, but related to the perception of lifestyle benefits associated with being famous. The key objective of this study was to develop a scale to measure the desire for fame and test its validity and reliability. The scale items were developed through the literature review and exploratory interviews. A pilot study was conducted to test the relationship between the desire for fame and external goals, which indicated positive associations. A second, online survey was conducted using a sample of 507 people. The Desire for Fame scale was found to have good psychometric properties and the findings suggest significant relationships with extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations, consistent with self‐determination theory. The social and marketing implications of the research are discussed and suggestions have been made for future research.

Two versions of the legitimization‐of‐paltry‐contributions technique (Cialdini & Schroeder, 1976) were compared with respect to their effectiveness in generating compliance with requests for charitable donations. When immediate, on‐the‐spot donations were requested, the technique significantly increased compliance rates relative to control conditions; but when the respondents were asked to mail in their contributions, virtually none did. The results offered some support for an image‐maintenance explanation of the technique and were viewed as indicating that the effectiveness of the technique is reliable, but primarily under conditions that impose a high degree of situational constraint upon respondents. Implications of the results for door‐to‐door fundraising and for future research were discussed.

In a Turkish sample, 100 suicide attempters, were compared with 60 healthy controls on measures of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal ideation. Suicide attempters were more depressive, more hopeless, and displayed greater suicidal ideation than healthy controls. Depression severity rather than hopelessness correlated with suicidal intent. Suicide lethality was independent of depression severity, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation and intent, suggesting that lethality is likely due to chance.

No abstract