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

Abstract:

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.