If you’re a Drake superfan or can’t get enough of the Kardashians, you’re certainly not alone, but you might be stupid.
Yes, although many of us would put ourselves in the “celebrity obsessed” category, it turns out that doesn’t say much about our intelligence – at least according to a recent Hungarian study.
The study, published last year in BMC Psychology, claims that people who are highly interested in Hollywood gossip and A-list celebrities are simply not that smart, which feels a bit like a personal attack.
This research might upset many Swifties. Photo credit: David Eulitt/Getty Images
Researchers asked 1,763 Hungarian adults to take part in a 30-word vocabulary test and a digit symbol substitution test before asking them to fill out an attitude towards celebrities questionnaire to gauge their interest in celebrities.
The questionnaire contained a series of statements, such as “I often feel compelled to learn the personal habits of my favorite celebrity,” to which participants had to answer “yes” or “no.”
Other statements included: “I obsess over details of my favorite celebrity’s life” and “If I were lucky enough to meet my favorite celebrity and he/she asked me to do something illegal as a favor, I would probably do it.” “
The study examined both literacy and numeracy skills and found that “there is a direct link between celebrity worship and poorer performance on cognitive tests,” meaning that in general, those who scored higher on the celebrity questionnaire performed worse on intelligence tests.
Kim Kardashian is a cult favorite among celebrity fanatics. Photo credit: Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
To get as complete a picture as possible, the researchers asked participants questions about income, wealth and education level. However, it is unclear whether this had any impact on the results.
However, the researchers admitted that it was impossible to determine whether the celebrity superfans performed poorly on the cognitive tests because they spent their mental energy thinking about the A-listers or because they are more cognitively challenged.
The researchers told PsyPost: “Future studies should seek further support for our suggestion that the cognitive effort invested in maintaining attachment to a favorite celebrity may affect the individual’s performance on tasks requiring attention and other cognitive skills.” .”
“Although our research doesn’t prove that developing a strong obsession with your favorite celebrity causes you to perform worse on cognitive tests, it does suggest that it might be wise to carefully monitor feelings about it.” [them].”
Comments are closed.