Fan Behavior and Lifespan Development Theory: Explaining Para-social and Social Attachment to Celebrities

Abstract

The theories of Levinson (1986 Am Psychol 41(1):3-13) and Erikson (1959 Identity and the life cycle. WW Norton and Co, New York, 1968 Youth and crisis. WW Norton and Co, New York), Bandura's (1986 Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs) Social Cognitive Theory, and the ethological attachment theories of Bowlby (1969 Attachment and loss, Vol. 1, attachment. Hogarth, London), and Ainsworth (1978 Patterns of attachment: a psychological study of the strange situation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale) are used in a discussion of the para-social and social relationships that fans have with celebrities. Fans' attachments to celebrities play primary and secondary roles in the developmental stages of adulthood and transitions between those stages. Celebrities are role models for adults, and attachment develops in much the same way it develops in face-to-face relationships, e.g. through proximity and familiarity with the face, voice, and manner of the celebrity. Included are examples from the fan research of the author. One conclusion is that fan attachments are often part of the normal course of adult development in the areas of identity, intimacy, and generativity. Additionally, application of Levinson's concept of stage transitions suggested that this might be a time when relationships with celebrities are more likely to begin.Keywords Para-social Á Celebrity Á Fans Á Erikson Á Levinson Á Attachment Á Bandura Theories of developmental psychology are a good fit when explaining fan behavior, and the purpose here is to explore these applications. I have spent the last 20 years doing participant observer ethnography in various fan communities, and the conclusions in this article are gleaned from field notes, interviews, and surveys as well as observations within each of the communities in my studies (Stever

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