The Justin Bieber Phenomenon

The Justin Bieber Phenomenon

Surely most people today have heard about Justin Bieber, aside perhaps from Ozzy Osbourne (rock legend and formerly acting as lead vocals for Black Sabbath, who famously commented not knowing the young star in an interview). Perhaps to the dismay of teenagers everywhere, this article is not about Justin Bieber; it is, however, about the popularity phenomenon. Just as some videos remain unknown for years, while others gain viral status, what makes some people or subjects popular, while their counterparts are destined to remain in oblivion forever?

Social psychology theorists have often noticed that IQ scores tend to correlate inversely with popularity. Needless to say, ‘nerds’ have rarely been at the top of social acceptance and approval. As featured on the Big Bang Theory, brilliant physicists, engineers and neurobiologists have seldom a well developed social life by societal standards, even though, of course in the television series, the ‘geeky’ group has indeed formed long-lasting friendship bonds.

Cognition. In European folklore, the Kikimora is an estranged mythical creature living alone in swamps and wetlands. The above depiction represents a beautified, and kinder, version of such a magical being in a psychedelic fantasy art scenario. As can be seen from the picture, image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

To get back to viral videos, the first name that comes to mind is Ray William Johnson. The renown comedian has initially made a name for himself reviewing entries that got record numbers of views in a matter of days (later, he also expanded into cartoons and music videos, somewhat reminiscent of the Gorillaz music videos style). Interestingly, the comedian in question was a law student at Columbia University (an Ivy League institution), which pretty much guarantees a certain level of intelligence, at least academically. The point here is that if one watches the videos, a transformation can be seen. Of course they do become more entertaining, but the actor also becomes less serious and seemingly, how to put this, less brainy? One could argue that the entertainer simply became better at his craft in time (which is highly likely), but similarly, perhaps to gain popularity one must appear somewhat less, let’s say sophisticated and complex.

What pleases the masses? On a reality television show I love New York, New York is the name (nickname) of the host who has bachelors compete for her attention. The series could be seen as a sort of female version of The Bachelor. While debating the ethics of such premises is beyond the scope of the present short essay, in one episode New York dismisses a handsome, successful candidate for being, according to her, too boring. The fault that got the jilted lover the unflattering label? He told her during a date about his education and other intellectual accomplishments and goals.

Some of the latest Internet crazes (planking, owling and batmanning), which gained surprising popularity despite being, well, pretty dangerous. A very short animation:

Further, psychologists have questioned if smart children are not popular, let’s say because less talented peers are preferred by others, then why would not the smarties just pretend to be stupid to gain acceptance? One answer given is that other people are good at picking up sincerity signals; another is that the smart children and adolescents simply do not want to, preferring the company of books and video games to that of their peers. People are often judged if they remain alone for long periods of time, especially in public. For example, very often a person who is believed to be a loner may be dubbed as unpopular. Rarely do others actually understand that some people prefer to be alone. Clearly, there may always be a mental health issue component, as social withdrawal is a symptom of many psychological illnesses. Conversely, social psychologists make a distinction between loneliness and solitude, stressing that loneliness implies a dissatisfaction with one’s state, while solitude does not.

However, some songs deplore that Hollywood destroys careers as well. Image: photo.grandquebec.com

But to get back to the initial discussion of celebrity gossip, why are people so interested in the lives of the rich and famous? Why do celebrity gossip bloggers and Websites attract such unprecedented attention, while millions of educational, informational resources enjoy less traffic than a Website that provides little to no pertinent information and simply gossips about people’s lives? Perhaps the reasons lie in the psychological realm. Analyzed from a psychological perspective, persons tend to somehow internalize what they see, hear or read about their famous celebrity. Perhaps, they even come to believe that by keeping up with the celebrity’s lifestyle and whereabouts, at least in the informational sense, they themselves somehow become closer to him or her and thus become cooler and more popular. Hey, as long as they are not stalking the celebrity or doing anything else that is wrong, why not stay informed as to the latests trend of lipstick in Hollywood?

Psychologists have looked extensively at associations between academic success and social status in schools. Further, researchers have raised the question: if smart children fail to be popular, let’s say because less talented peers are preferred by others, then why do the ‘smarties’ refrain from just pretending to be less capable in order to gain acceptance? One answer given is that other people are good at picking up sincerity signals; another is that they simply prefer the status quo. What do you think?

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen. All rights reserved.