Evaluating the Research Evidence
Research supporting these theories shows some fascinating patterns. Maltby's study of 14-16 year olds found that girls with intense-personal relationships with female celebrities often developed poor body image and eating disorders. The study also linked different personality traits to each stage - extroverts at entertainment-social, neurotic individuals at intense-personal, and those with psychotic traits at borderline-pathological.
However, the attachment theory explanation faces serious challenges. McCutcheon's research with 299 participants found that people with secure and insecure attachments were equally likely to form parasocial relationships, which really questions whether childhood attachment difficulties actually matter.
Methodological problems plague this research area. Most studies rely on self-report questionnaires where participants might lie to look better (social desirability bias). Plus, correlational data makes it impossible to determine cause and effect - does celebrity obsession cause eating disorders, or do people with eating disorders gravitate towards celebrity culture?
Critical Thinking: Always question whether correlation means causation when evaluating psychological research!
The absorption-addiction model also gets criticised for being more descriptive than explanatory - it tells us what absorbed fans look like but doesn't really explain how these relationships develop in the first place.