Study suggests celebrity-obsessed individuals may be less intelligent

Bad news for all the reality TV and celebrity tabloid-lovers out there. According to research conducted by Hungarian academics, people who are celebrity-obsessed may be lacking in intelligence as compared to those who are not too deeply invested in the lives of the rich and famous, reported New York Post. 

The research, published by BMC Psychology, has claimed that people who are too involved in celebrity gossip have lower levels of cognitive abilities, asserting that, “There is a direct association between celebrity worship and poorer performance on cognitive tests.”

The study required the 1763 adult participants to take a vocabulary test and another having to do with symbol substitution before being asked to complete a “Celebrity Aptitude Scale” questionnaire, consisting of questions such as, “If I were lucky enough to meet my favourite celebrity, and he/she asked me to do something illegal as a favour I would probably do it.” 

The results of the study showed that individuals who received a higher score in the celebrity test generally scored lower in the cognitive ability tests. However, the results are not conclusive and require further research, since it was not understood whether they were focusing their intelligence to think about celebrities or if they were somewhat stupid to begin with. 

“Although our research does not prove that developing a powerful obsession with one’s favourite celebrity causes one to score lower on cognitive tests, it suggests that it might be wise to carefully monitor feelings for [them],” cautioned one of the researchers.