Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

The Desire for Fame: An Extension of Uses and Gratifications Theory

  • Lamar University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social network sites (SNSs) enable users to self-disclose to broad and anonymous audiences. Drawing on social cognitive theory (SCT) and the uses and gratifications (U&G) approach, this study investigates how reality television (RTV) cultivates desire for fame in its audience, which is operationalized as a human desire motivating nondirected self-disclosure (NDSD) online, a technique seeking fame. Results from an online survey (N = 221) show that whether watching RTV with friends interacted with time spent viewing RTV to affect desire for fame, which in turn affected the use of SNSs to pursue fame. In addition, exhibitionism, a motive of SNS use for the purpose of fame, fully mediated the relationship between desire for fame and NDSD. These results have implications for refining U&G and new media research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)399-418
Number of pages20
JournalCommunication Studies
Volume67
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 7 2016

Keywords

  • Fame Seeking
  • Human Desires
  • Reality Television
  • Social Network Sites
  • Uses and Gratifications

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Desire for Fame: An Extension of Uses and Gratifications Theory'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this