In reply to Beth especially, a friend gave me the Obama White House telephone number on which anyone can leave a message for Mr. Obama (reportedly). I just love having it; I wonder what degree of separation is that. I called once on a Saturday and a lovely, rich voice advised that I call back during the week to leave a message. What a great idea (the telephone message idea). Aside from the degrees of separation, (I wonder if we want to keep), when folks unrealistically criticize the current political structure to me, I say, "Well, do you want his phone number? You can leave a message for him!" No one has yet taken me up on it. Joann Jelly, Ed. Psychology Instructor
_____ From: Beth Benoit [mailto:beth.ben...@gmail.com] Sent: Sat 7/31/2010 6:24 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Chelsea Madness - psychological angle? I think it might be fun to make note of how many "degrees of separation" there can be where BIRGing (basking in reflected glory) is going on. (Cialdini made this concept popular, describing how people feel their self-identity is enhanced by their association - sometimes at quite a distance - from a celebrity, person of importance, etc.) You might search for people's reports that they're involved in this event somehow. ("My husband's cousin's fiance is a waiter who might be serving at the reception," [3+ degrees] "I was just getting in my car when Hillary's limousine drove by," {pretty distant 3 degrees] etc.) You'd probably also need to include yourself, Michael, since you posted that Rhinebeck is your hometown, and thus...well, you know the rest. Enjoy the craziness! Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 8:59 AM, Michael Britt <mich...@thepsychfiles.com> wrote: No doubt everyone has heard that Chelsea Clinton is getting married today in Rhinebeck, New York. Well, that's my hometown so it's pretty nutty around here with all the celebrity-spotting and no-fly zone stuff going on. People have been waiting around for hours to catch a glimpse of anyone famous. Rumor had it that Oprah stopped by at a well known ice cream stop called the "Holy Cow" to get an ice cream. That piece of news was making the rounds. I was in the middle of the fray yesterday with my camera wondering if there is a psychological angle to all this. I only came up with these: 1) Sternberg's theory of love: I assume that Chelsea and her soon to be husband (what's-his-name) are in the Romantic Love stage. 2) Erikson: I also assume that she's in the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage. 3) Celebrity: the event is another example of our obsession with celebrities. Any psychological theory to tap into here? I'll probably make another stop by in town today so if you think of any questions I should ask people let me know. Not that I'm caught up in the whole thing.... Michael Michael Britt mich...@thepsychfiles.com http://www.ThePsychFiles.com <http://www.thepsychfiles.com/> Twitter: mbritt --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: beth.ben...@gmail.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72 <http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=3880> &n=T&l=tips&o=3880 or send a blank email to leave-3880-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: jje...@barstow.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13010.76185584223b2f7b9f3a91a2f9913135 <http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13010.76185584223b2f7b9f3a91a2f9913135&n=T&l=tips&o=3882> &n=T&l=tips&o=3882 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-3882-13010.76185584223b2f7b9f3a91a2f9913...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=3889 or send a blank email to leave-3889-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
