Craving the Spotlight: Buddhism, Narcissism, and the Desire for Fame

The present study investigated the relationship between desire for fame, narcissism, and Buddhist practices. A scale measuring the desire for fame was administered along with a scale measuring level of narcissism. The results suggest that Buddhists report a significantly lower desire for fame than non-Buddhists. Additionally, a significant relationship between narcissism and desire for fame was found. Buddhist principles (such as the de-emphasis of the ego) may help offset the potentially negative consequences associated with the pursuit of celebrity. Fame has evolved considerably throughout the centuries. What once was a matter of birth right and inherited position prior to the eighteenth century has been transformed into a marker of talent, intellect, and personal virtue (Braudy, 1986). More recently, with the expansive audiences that mediums such as the internet, television, and movies reach, fame is easier to achieve, and in some ways, less meaningful than it was in the past. With the increase in popularity of reality television shows, people do not even have to be extraordinary in order to gain recognition. It seems as though fame is no longer an indicator of exceptional achievement. P. David Marshall (1997) expressed this perspective when he noted that ‘‘the success expressed in the celebrity posture is seen as success without the requisite association with work. There is no substance to the sign of the celebrity, and without that embedded significance, the celebrity sign is entirely image’’ (p. xi). Even with the superficiality of the modern celebrity, some people still crave a taste of fame. In hungering for fame, what is it exactly that these individuals are hoping to gain? When fame has been attained, an individual will have entered a state of being in which they will experience large-scale public recognition for their talents, achievements, and/or personality while simultaneously becoming separated and admired by the crowd (Braudy, 1986). Hence, some of those who desire fame may yearn for an existence defined by the aggrandizement of the self accompanied by the adulation of this elevated self by the masses. However, unbeknownst to many, desire for self-glorification may be quite harmful for some. This portion of the population precipitated our interest in pursuing our study. For example, in a study conducted by Adler and Adler (1989), athletes on a major college basketball team were observed over a five year period, beginning with their entry into the basketball program and ending with their conclusion of their e-mail: [email protected] Copyright 2006 Transpersonal Institute The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2006, Vol. 38, No. 2 216 college basketball careers. The researchers were concerned with whether or not the players would experience changes in their selves as a result of their exposure to fame. While many of the players were never driven by the need to aggrandize the self prior to their immersion into the world of celebrity, once they were unavoidably placed in the eyes of the public, the desire to maintain and acquire even more recognition became intensified. All the players’ interest in outside responsibilities and relationships—school, relatives, friends—diminished, replaced by a self that was solely preoccupied with athletic fame as a source of gratification in their lives. Moreover, garnering additional fame from the present was so important to the players that their futures once their basketball careers had ended was given little consideration. Thus, engrossing oneself in the attempt to procure celebrity status can have significant effects on individuals. If a person’s wish for fame does come to fruition, the life changes that occur when one is suddenly thrust into the public eye can also have detrimental psychological effects. For example, Schaller (1997) found significant effects of fame on selfconsciousness by analyzing three cases of famous personalities—Kurt Cobain, Cole Porter, and John Cheever. The three celebrities analyzed were all classified as writers (two songwriters and one novelist), and it was theorized that their feelings of selfconsciousness would be manifested in their work. Schaller hypothesized that exposure to fame would result in increased self-consciousness due to the fact that the selves of celebrities are constantly being scrutinized by the public. Indeed, a significant increase in self-consciousness before and after fame was found. These findings are not enough to imply causation of increased self-consciousness by fame, but they do suggest a potential for fame to have unwanted, undesirable effects on the mental health of those who gain public recognition. Similarly, Estes (1998) utilized the eventual demise of Elvis Presley to illustrate the negative impact fame can have. Once in the public eye, a person can be both adored and despised by the public. In order to overcome the feelings of inadequacy that may result from hostile public opinion, the celebrity may become even more obsessed with acquiring public admiration. The celebrity may wrongly conclude that obtaining more respect from the public—something that elicits good feelings—will assuage feelings of insufficiency, becoming so immersed in the pursuit of public adulation that they lose themselves and a sense of what is really important. Fame, in such cases, may act like a pleasure-inducing drug, leaving those who experience it with an insatiable craving for more. From the studies discussed above, one might infer that the desire for fame and fame itself have the potential to alter an individual’s life in possibly destructive ways. Yet, studies of fame have not established a causal link between fame and negative life effects. Most of the research has been anecdotal. It is possible, then, that the negative consequences experienced may be related to the extant personality of the individual seeking fame. For example, there are some who believe that they deserve recognition (both public and private) and that this recognition is something they are entitled to enjoy. Such thoughts can be indicators of a narcissistic personality. Narcissism is a construct based upon a ‘‘cognitive-affective preoccupation with the self, where ‘cognitive preoccupation’ refers to a focus of attention on the self; ‘affecCraving the Spotlight 217 tive preoccupation’ refers to a preoccupation with one’s own needs, wishes, goals, ambitions, glory, superiority, or perfection; and ‘self’ refers to the whole person . . . ’’ (Westen, 1990, p. 227). Along with this fixation on the self, narcissistic individuals often feel threatened by a pervasive sense of impermanence of the self (McCarthy, 1997; Piven, 2003). They experience their felt sense of self as insignificant and thus seek the replacement of the transient self with a more ‘‘permanent’’ self. Fame, which offers the illusion of a concrete existence and a sense of fulfillment in being recognized (Braudy, 1986), becomes a manifestation of the permanence that the ego seeks (Falkenstrom, 2003). Thus, fame can give an individual a sense of immortality, creating a self that is no longer ephemeral. However, from a Buddhist perspective, this pursuit of permanence is associated with suffering, not immortality (Rao, 1978; Tatsuo, 1999). In noting the association between ego pursuits and suffering, Epstein (1995) explained that ‘‘what the Buddha called the craving for existence and nonexistence, is what we would call today narcissistic craving: the thirst for a fixed image of the self, as either something or nothing’’ (p. 59). One of the principle objectives of Buddhism is to recondition the way in which the nature of the ego is perceived, moving away from the belief that the ego is eternal. If one adopts the practices of Buddhism, this desire of the ego to become permanent or immortal can be extinguished. In such a state, equivalent to that of enlightenment in which the ego has been annihilated, external validation of one’s existence is no longer needed (Kara, 1979). In fact, desire itself is perceived by Buddhists as a negative force which must be quelled in order for suffering to be eliminated (Kalupahana, 1992). Much of the suffering that exists in the world is accredited to ignorance in Buddhist theory. Ignorance in its most powerful form, according to Buddhism, is to conceive of a self when in actuality there is no self or ego. Ensnared in this type of ignorance, people become obsessed with the ego, desperately clinging onto it with the misconception that such an entity is permanent when in reality it is transient (Kalupahana, 1992). Because of this position regarding the fleeting nature of the ego, the doctrine of noself is the cornerstone for Buddhist thought and practice. Certain Buddhist practices, such as Vipassana meditation, have been shown to create changes in self-concept by helping practitioners become aware of the ‘‘non-self’’ (Emavardhana & Tori, 1997). More specifically related to the present study, Epstein (1986) argues that meditation acts as a way in which narcissistic inclinations inherent in an individual’s personality are recognized, confronted, and thereby channeled into a healthier expression of these urges. Such a postulation counters the commonly-held view that meditation actually fosters narcissism, a gross misinterpretation of this ancient Buddhist practice (Epstein, 1990). Through the intense concentration and insight that meditation requires of its practitioners, the ideal ego— the part of the self that harbors the belief that it is deserving of admiration for what it is (Hanly, 1984)—is actually subdued, making it possible for the narcissistic preoccupation with the self to be abandoned (Epstein, 1986). Perhaps exposure to a belief system that deemphasizes the importance of the self, such as Buddhism, might make an individual less likely to pursue any construct that results in the exaltation of the self, such as fame. Therefore, the present study was The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2006, Vol. 38, No. 2 218 designed to investigate whether individuals with a Buddhist background would report a lower desire for fame than those not affiliated with the teachings of Buddhism. A central feature of Buddhism allows individuals to be grounded in the pursuit of no-self versus the experiences of those whose pursuit for fame may evolve into self exaltation. In addition, it was expected a desire for fame would be related to the narcissistic personality, independent of exposure to Buddhist philosophy.