Gossip has been around probably since we learned to talk, but the urge to obsess over celebrities is something that is still fairly new. With the deaths of multiple celebrities this summer, attention to the popularity these people have and why so much emphasis has been put into their lifestyles has increased. It is more convenient than ever to find someone to gossip with.

"Everyone knows who [celebrities] are, so that automatically displays them as being popular," Johnson said. "People are really trying to live the way that they see life on TV. We idolize things that we see because it's a trend. It's the thing to do."

Sometimes, it is an attraction to these individuals that captivates the attention of viewers; they portray the alpha figures of society. It may also be that regular people desire to live like the rich and famous, or even just the need to fit in.

LeiLani Nishime, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication, believes that stars are a way for the population, as a culture, to work out anxieties. Celebrities who don't fit into neat categories are the ones that are focused on.

"As a culture, we might ask what motherhood looks like," Nishime said. "So, [we] look to people like Britney Spears. She's sexy. She drives without a seatbelt. We look at her to work through what motherhood looks like or what it isn't. Even Michael Jackson was a lightning rod for many issues."

Psychology professor David Barash has studied biological adaptation in non-human primates and believes obsession with these public figures is more than just a crush or a feeling of being included.

He believes that our sense of community is something that is biologically programmed into each individual and that humans have adapted to societal growth to treat celebrities as leaders and to maintain connections.

"It is biologically adapted, in a certain way, to have concern for the dominant individual," Barash said. "Highly social species develop 'local cultures,' such as characteristic vocalization patterns, ways of obtaining food and so forth, which are then passed around among members largely by individuals watching each other. This involves paying particular attention to the dominant individuals and often mimicking them."

The focus on prominent individuals is hard-wired into the human system because there is a natural instinct to look for an example of how to live. Celebrity lives are so public that it is easy to use them as role models. They are a focal point in a society that has grown so large that it is impossible to keep track of every person. To compensate, members of society check in on celebrities in the same way their would their closest friends. Barash believes that gossip has taken the place of these local cultures, and, through obsessions, humans metaphorically groom and mimic celebrities.

"Their actions show us how we can improve our own status, and in some aspects, how to ruin it," said Nicole Zarfos, a sophomore interested in celebrity attention.

However, the ability to decide how a celebrity should be portrayed to the public eye is in the hands of the media. They determine what is important and what we are reading about in People or Us Weekly or watching on cable TV.

"Celebrity culture grew up with media," Nishime explained. "They've been around since the beginning of the century. What they do gets multiplied and distributed. The fact that someone in Hollywood can do something and it gets repeated creates a national discussion."

If the public is not concerned with a particular celebrity, the media will not highlight that individual. If the dominant individual was not important to human nature, then celebrities would not exist.

Their professional careers are only a pathway through which these individuals receive attention. How they lead their personal lives, Barash said, influences society much more because the relatively subordinate individuals look up to them.

"The attention structure and who watches whom is important to note," Barash said. "By watching dominant and prominent individuals, the inconspicuous public may gain clues as to how to improve their own dominance status by imitating what the more successful individuals do. Needless to say, this tendency can be exaggerated to unhealthy levels."

Humans are creatures of habit, and because of this, attention to celebrities will remain prominent in society. The life of comfort and of leisure is something that the rest of the world will strive for.

To a degree, each person — like Johnson and her roommates — is biologically predisposed to focus on dominant individuals. They provide examples of how to lead our own lives. The modern adaptation is an obsession with celebrities, and through the gossip and discussion that is being created about these individuals, a national sense of identity and community has been born.

"Celebrity obsessions are a way for us to work out our problems as a group," Nishime said. "It creates a sense of national identity. These celebrities represent our culture, so following along with them helps us feel a part of American culture."

Reach contributing writer Mary Jean Spadafora at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.