The association of celebrity worship with problematic Internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire for fame

Background and aims Celebrity worship, defined as an obsessive fascination with a famous person, has been associated with several mental health problems, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety, dissociation, and body image concerns. The aim of this study was to extend the scope of investigation of previous research on psychological correlates by exploring the association of celebrity worship with compulsive behaviors, such as problematic Internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, desire for fame, and self-efficacy. Methods A voluntary sample of 437 Hungarian adolescents and adults (78.3% male; Mage = 24.7 years, SD = 7.4) completed an online questionnaire focusing on attitudes toward celebrities and other relevant variables. Results As a result of hierarchical regression analyses, high levels of celebrity worship were associated with problematic Internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire for fame. Furthermore, females were at higher risk to become obsessed with celebrities than males. Discussion and conclusion These findings provide with a more comprehensive picture of psychological difficulties associated with celebrity worship and may contribute to a better understanding of this phenomenon

Social Desirability and the Celebrity Attitude Scale

The possibility of social desirability bias has often been neglected in the construction and evaluation of attitudinal scales and personality inventories in psychology and related disciplines. The present study aimed to explore the potential influence of such biases on respondents’ self-reported celebrity worship. Specifically, we had a student sample (n = 187) complete a) measures of two different forms of social desirability bias (externally-oriented “Impression management” vs. internally-oriented “self-deceptive positivity”) and b) the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS). Results showed that neither measure correlated significantly with the CAS. Furthermore, neither gender nor delivery mode (online vs. paper-and-pencil) mediated the non-significant relationships. Our results add to the confidence researchers might have in using this tool to measure attitudes toward one’s favorite celebrity. Other results are generally consistent with previous studies using the CAS

Further Validation of the Realness Scale: Are Celebrity Worshipers Unreal?

We administered the Realness Scale (RS), Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), and the modified Authentic Living Subscale (ALS) from the Authenticity Scale (AS) to undergraduate students from four American institutions of higher learning. We sought to further validate the RS by showing that it correlated positively with the ALS and negatively with the CAS. We also hypothesized that African Americans would score lower than Whites on the RS. Our results supported the first hypothesis, but we found only weak or non-existent support for the other two hypotheses. Discussion focused on reasons why our latter two hypotheses yielded mostly negative results and suggested improvements for future research

Further Validation of an Indirect Measure of Celebrity Stalking

The Obsessive Relational Intrusion and Celebrity Stalking scale (ORI & CS) was developed to identify persons likely to become stalkers of celebrities. The purpose of the present study is to provide additional evidence about the reliability and validity of the ORI & CS. We administered the ORI & CS and measures of celebrity worship, fantasy proneness, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and celebrity stalking behavior in several possible orders to 145 college students. Neither the fantasy proneness scale nor the obsessive-compulsive measure correlated significantly with the ORI & CS, but both subscales of the latter did correlate significantly with the two more problematic subscales of the celebrity worship measure, essentially replicating an earlier study. Furthermore, obnoxious celebrity stalking behavior was the best predictor of threat subscale scores from the ORI & CS. Implications for the further study of celebrity stalking are explored

Pengembangan Instrumen Pendeteksi Kesulitan Belajar Kimia Kelas X Menggunakan Model Testlet

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk: (1) menghasilkan instrumen model testlet sebagai instrumen pendeteksi kesulitan belajar kimia peserta didik kelas X SMA sesuai tahapan penelitian pengembangan; (2) menentukan karakteristik butir soal instrumen pendeteksi kesulitan belajar kimia kelas X menggunakan model testlet; (3) mendapatkan profil belajar individu peserta didik. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian pengembangan model Akker dengan tahapan: preliminary investigation; theoretical embedding; empirical testing; dan documentation, analysis, and reflection on process and outcome. Subjek uji coba yaitu guru kimia SMA di Surakarta; dosen Pendidikan Kimia FKIP UNS Surakarta; peserta didik SMA Negeri 2, SMA Negeri 5, dan SMA Batik 2 Surakarta. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa: (1) penelitian ini menghasilkan instrumen pendeteksi kesulitan belajar kimia kelas X menggunakan model testlet pada bab Struktur Atom dan Sistem Periodik Unsur yang terdiri dari butir soal dan program analisis datanya; (2) karakteristik butir soal memiliki validitas isi Aiken dengan rentang 0,76-1 yang berarti validitas isi baik; reliabilitas sebesar 0,83 yang berarti reliabilitas tinggi; persentase daya beda soal baik sekali 47,91%, baik 12,5%, cukup 18,75%, jelek 20,83%; persentase tingkat kesukaran soal sukar 4,17%, sedang 50%, mudah 45,83%; dan kunci jawaban 70,83% efektif; (3) profil belajar individu peserta didik dapat memberi laporan yang informatif mengenai kemampuan dan kesulitan belajar kimia peserta didik

PowerCells Payload on EuCROPIS - Measuring Synthetic Biology in Space

NASAs PowerCell payload on the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt, i.e. German Aerospace Center) Eu:CROPIS satellite will compare the effect of multiple simulated gravity regimes on basic processes required for synthetic biology in space including growth, protein production, and genetic transformation of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. In addition, it will pioneer the use of a cyanobacterially-produced feedstock for microbial growth in space, a concept we call PowerCell. The PowerCell experiment system will be integrated using the Spaceflight Secondary Payload System with the German Space Agency's (DLR's) Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-food Production In Space (Eu:CROPIS) satellite, to be launched during the summer of 2017. In order to simulate the gravitational gradient of different celestial bodies, the Eu:CROPIS satellite will establish artificial microgravity, lunar, and Martian gravity levels prior to conducting each set of biological experiments, with experimental results compared to ground controls. Experiments will be carried out in microfluidics cards with experimental progress measured through absorbance as detected by the LED-based optical system. Here we describe the ground studies that led to these experiments, along with a description of the flight hardware and its performance. The results of this mission will provide foundational data for the use and production of genetically engineered organisms for extraterrestrial missions

Schadenfreude and Sport Celebrity Worship

We administered either a Guilty or an Ambiguous version of a fatal hit-and-run accident involving one's favorite sport celebrity, a measure of schadenfreude, and a version of the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) modified to target one's favorite sport celebrity to 77 Black and 119 White college students. Results of two ANOVAs showed that Black students who chose Black favorite sport celebrities showed a significantly stronger admiration for their favorite sport celebrity, but significantly greater schadenfreude as compared to White students who chose favorite sport celebrities who were White. There were no other main effects or interactions. Schadenfreude scores were lower as compared to previous studies in which target persons were maliciously envied or deserving of misfortune. There was an inverse correlation between schadenfreude scores and reported strength of the bond with the favorite sport celebrity as measured by the single item "How strongly do you feel about your favorite sport celebrity/" and scores on the sport version of the Celebrity Attitude Scale. Results were discussed with a focus on racial differences and the failure to find a difference due to certainty of guilt

Cultural Differences between Indian & US College Students on Attitudes toward Celebrities & the Love Attitudes Scale

We administered the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) and the Love Attitudes Scale (LAS) to 59 university students in the United States and 61university students in India. Students from both countries who scored as dependent, needy lovers tended to also score high on all three subscales of the CAS, suggesting that some persons with failed personal relationships may become attracted to parasocial relationships with celebrities as a safe alternative.  Students from the U.S. who tended to view love as a game, as measured by the LAS game-playing subscale, also tended to strongly admire their favorite celebrity in an intense personal way. Differences and similarities between the Indian and American samples on the CAS and LAS were discussed. The study provides additional evidence that the two problematic levels of the CAS are associated with undesirable attitudes and behaviors

CRISPR/Cas9-Assisted Transformation-Efficient Reaction (CRATER) for Near-Perfect Selective Transformation

The CRISPR (Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas9 system has revolutionized genome editing by providing unprecedented DNA-targeting specificity. Here we demonstrate that this system can be also applied in vitro to fundamental cloning steps to facilitate efficient plasmid selection for transformation and selective gene insertion into plasmid vectors by cleaving unwanted plasmid byproducts with a single-guide RNA (sgRNA)-Cas9 nuclease complex. Using fluorescent and chromogenic proteins as reporters, we demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9 cleavage excludes multiple plasmids as well as unwanted ligation byproducts resulting in an unprecedented increase in the transformation success rate from approximately 20% to nearly 100%. Thus, this CRISPR/Cas9-Assisted Transformation-Efficient Reaction (CRATER) protocol is a novel, inexpensive, and convenient application to conventional molecular cloning to achieve near-perfect selective transformation

Differential patterns of spontaneous experiential response to a hypnotic induction: A latent profile analysis

A hypnotic induction produces different patterns of spontaneous experiences across individuals. The magnitude and characteristics of these responses covary moderately with hypnotic suggestibility, but also differ within levels of hypnotic suggestibility. This study sought to identify discrete phenomenological profiles in response to a hypnotic induction and assess whether experiential variability among highly suggestible individuals matches the phenomenological profiles predicted by dissociative typological models of high hypnotic suggestibility. Phenomenological state scores indexed in reference to a resting epoch during hypnosis were submitted to a latent profile analysis. The profiles in the derived four-class solution differed in multiple experiential dimensions and hypnotic suggestibility. Highly suggestible individuals were distributed across two classes that exhibited response patterns suggesting an inward attention subtype and a dissociative subtype. These results provide support for dissociative typological models of high hypnotic suggestibility and indicate that highly suggestible individuals do not display a uniform response to a hypnotic induction