Stars that crash.

Abstract

The present study introduces a model explaining what leads stars to crash and assesses risk factors that lead stars to crash in a sample of 18 celebrities who have had a downfall. Downfalls include alcoholism, drug abuse or addiction, mental illness, myriad relationship problems, death, suicide or other life-changing disasters. First, the paper theorizes that individuals’ early environments and social forces, such as assortativeness and affiliation, contribute to their narcissistic traits. The model illustrates how these risk factors including narcissistic traits and the adult environments of stars lead them to engage in behaviors that lead to their downfalls. To examine the usefulness of this model, the paper examined the lives of famous celebrities (i.e., “stars”) who had public downfalls (n = 18) using secondary sources. It assessed the risk factors involved in the crashing of stars. In concordance with the proposed model, results showed that what the majority of these cases had in common were: Atypical early environments, such as abandonment and trauma, over-indulgent or absent wealthy parents, or an early career; and adult environment conditions, such as colluding social groups and entourages. These factors could be linked to stars having extramarital affairs damaging their marriage or careers; bankruptcy; or alcohol and/or drug addiction. In some cases these factors have led to stars having accidents, or deaths. Furthermore, the study shows that there is a positive correlation between the number of risk factors present and the severity of the downfall of the stars.