When Celebrities Wade into Politics: Measuring Political Influence of Celebrities

• In Event: Issues in Political Communication

Abstract

Many scales were constructed and validated to measure the influence of celebrities; however, a valid and reliable scale to measure the celebrity influence on political attitudes was nonexistent. Unlike other studies, we argue that celebrity influence on political attitudes is a complex process involving a favorable attitude towards celebrities that enhances enjoyment of the political activities attended by celebrities, and subsequently influences political attitudes of fans of a celebrity culture. By introducing a new measure, Political Influence of Celebrities Scale (PICS), we examined the psychometric properties of this scale designed to explore the extent to which celebrities politically inspired their fans. We explored the factor structure, internal consistency, and the relationship between assorted dimensions of PICS. We confirmed our results employing a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which examined the three-factor construct and found sufficient evidence that confirmed and validated the scale.

Authors

• Azmat Rasul, Florida State U

• Muhammad Ehab Rasul, Florida State U