title: Implicit theories of a desire for fame.
abstract: The aim of the present studies was to generate implicit theories of a desire for fame among the general population. In Study 1, we were able to develop a nine-factor analytic model of conceptions of the desire to be famous that initially comprised nine separate factors; ambition, meaning derived through comparison with others, psychologically vulnerable, attention seeking, conceitedness, social access, altruistic, positive affect, and glamour. Analysis that sought to examine replicability among these factors suggested that three factors (altruistic, positive affect, and glamour) neither display factor congruence nor display adequate internal reliability. A second study examined the validity of these factors in predicting profiles of individuals who may desire fame. The findings from this study suggested that two of the nine factors (positive affect and altruism) could not be considered strong factors within the model. Overall, the findings suggest that implicit theories of a desire for fame comprise six factors. The discussion focuses on how an implicit model of a desire for fame might progress into formal theories of a desire for fame.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. jm148@le.ac.uk
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maltby
authors.forename: Liz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giles
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gillett
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quick
authors.forename: Honey
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Langcaster-James
authors.forename: P Alex
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Linley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D001240:Aspirations, Psychological; D001288:Attention; D002605:Character; D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009289:Narcissism; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D012930:Social Dominance