Rich lives, high popularity, and expanding fame— it’s easy to see why the lives of celebrities are alluring to tabloid readers, but perhaps the reasons for their popularity lie deeper than it might seem. Their lives often inspire jealousy, admiration, and hatred among those who are not of the same status. As a result, many people lead a life focused on others and a perpetuated fascination with celebrities. When viewed at the surface level, the impact of celebrity gossip magazines and their website counterparts often seem to be of little importance, appearing insignificant and superficial to many; there may be more influence behind the cover than what is originally realized due to the underlying level of the psychological responses that stories about celebrities produce.

The Relatability Factor

By making those in gossip magazines appear “just like us” with photos of celebrities doing everyday things, there is an appeal to the readers when they feel they can relate to the famous, whose lives may be extremely different than theirs in terms of money and popularity. This desire for relative normalcy is strongly connected to a desire to be like celebrities and perhaps even allows one to feel that for a second, when they view a photo that is similar to something in their own life, celebrities are brought down from their pedestal. Overall, these readers feel better about themselves and more in touch with lifestyles that often seem unattainable; this encourages further reading, further curiosity, and further sales for these magazines.

The Gaze of Envy

Envious glances at glamorous girls and gorgeous guys not only make reader’s hearts beat a little faster, but cause them to look a little closer, and in scrutiny, become quick to criticize more consistently as soon as jealousy takes over. The desire to have the so-called glitzy life of Hollywood is attractive to many, and as soon as the initial shock wears off at how unlikely this unconscious aspiration may be, a profound and sometimes subtle jealousy can set in. This jealousy is a double-edged condition; hatred and love work together in this emotional response to create strong and passionate responses while encouraging higher reader rates.

The Glad-That’s-Not-Me Mentality

There is something so satisfying about witnessing the downfall of others, whether we like to admit it or not. Think America’s Funniest Home Videos, for example. Often when someone is seriously hurt in a home video on this show, it elicits a response of a grin or chuckle which can happen without one even realizing it.  This mentality is a significant factor in what makes the videos the “funniest,” resulting in a smugness and appreciation for the fact that a stranger made a hilariously bad decision.  Adding to this phenomenon is the impact of all the “treacherous” things celebrities do and experience, and the immediate attention to these flaws from gossip magazine looking to feed intrigued readers.  As a result, readers become happier with their own lives and glad that the stupid deeds of celebrities are so different from their own.

The Standard

Finally, on a pop-cultural level, celebrities have often set the standard for new trends in beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and more since the early 20^th century. Affecting both gender and affecting all ages, many people are influenced by what celebrities do and how they do them. As a way to report on these “standards,” celebrity magazines provide a constant stream of what’s ‘in” and a multitude of examples that should be followed. By ranking and rating films, television, books, and music, magazines hold a certain power over what their readers watch, read, and listen to. In a sense, these magazines can become so addictive because this constant report serves as a “guidance” for those who want to live like celebrities, modernize their lifestyles, and keep up with what’s deemed culturally popular.

Overall, the psychological influence of celebrity gossip magazines is strong— it’s how they hook readers, how they stay in business, and how millions of Americans stay “in touch” with what is classified as the best ways to live through celebrity example. By causing conflicting emotions that all capture the attention of readers, these magazines can be interesting, but are also much more elusive and alluring to the brain than they seem at a basic level.