Devote disproportionate cults to Celine Dion, Johnny Hallyday or even Mylène Farmer would decrease cognitive performance.
- A score between 90 and 110 is the average for an IQ test.
- The Intelligence Quotient (or IQ) is a test that “measures” in a numerical way the intelligence of a person according to his age.
According to a new study published in BMC Psychologycognitive performance is slightly reduced in people who are obsessed with one or more celebrities.
A vocabulary test and a number test
“Unlike previous ones, this study controlled for several potentially relevant variables,” explain trial authors Lynn E. McCutcheon, Ágnes Zsila and Zsolt Demetrovics in a joint statement to PsyPost.
Thus, 1,763 Hungarian adults took a vocabulary test and a number test. The researchers also collected their level of self-esteem, income, material wealth and level of education. The degree of their potential star worship was then measured using a scientific questionnaire known as the “Celebrity Attitude Scale”.
After correlating all of this data, the researchers found that high scores on the Celebrity Attitude Scale were associated with poorer performance on both cognitive aptitude tests.
Decline in performance
“These data support previous findings showing that excessive behaviors can impair cognitive functioning, presumably due to the focus and energy invested in this attitude, which gradually becomes dominant in the individual’s life,” analyze the researchers.
“High levels of admiration may be considered a contributing factor to lower performance in tasks requiring cognitive effort, regardless of education or age,” they conclude.
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