The Primatology of Gossip
Why we're obsessed with celebrities: an evolutionary perspective
Paparazzi. Celebrity gossip. Social media influencers. Fashion trends. Pin-up posters. We are obsessed with socially dominant individuals—tracking their lives, imitating their choices, consuming images of their faces and bodies. Is this distinctively human? Or do we inherit this fascination from deeper primate roots?
Studies in monkeys and apes suggest our celebrity obsession has genetic foundations. Two behaviours stand out: we pay attention to dominant individuals, and we imitate them.
Paying for Celebrity Images
Deaner et al. (2005): Male rhesus macaques were given a choice - they could sacrifice juice (a reward) for the opportunity to view certain images, or they could demand extra juice to view other images.
What they'd pay to see:
Female perinea (female bums)
Faces of high-status (dominant) monkeys
What required payment to view:
Faces of low-status (subordinate) monkeys - they'd only look if given extra juice
Monkeys differentially value the opportunity to see particular classes of social images. They'll pay (sacrifice reward) to look at dominant individuals and sexually relevant features. Sound familiar? Humans buy celebrity magazines, follow Instagram influencers, consume images of attractive bodies. We're willing to sacrifice time, attention, money to view high-status individuals.
The mechanism is ancient.
Imitating the Dominant
Human juveniles and subordinates imitate dominant individuals. Teenagers mimic Beyoncé. Students copy their mentors. Adults seek guidance from more successful peers. This isn't learned behaviour—it's primate behaviour.
Kendal et al (2015): Observed social transmission of new behaviours in chimpanzees.
Findings:
Juveniles and low-rank individuals produce high rates of innovative behaviours
But imitation is biased toward high-rank (dominant) individuals
Innovations from subordinates are ignored; behaviours from dominants are copied
The pattern is clear: subordinates innovate, but dominants get copied. In chimpanzee groups, a low-rank individual might discover a better way to crack nuts or fish for termites—but the group won't adopt it unless a high-rank individual performs the behaviour.
Humans show the same bias. Innovations from junior researchers, unknown artists, or marginalised groups often remain invisible until someone with status adopts them. Then suddenly everyone imitates. The behaviour hasn't changed—the rank of the performer has.
Conclusion
Our obsession with celebrities isn't a modern phenomenon created by mass media. It's primate psychology scaled up.
We preferentially attend to dominant individuals—tracking their lives, consuming their images, imitating their choices. This makes evolutionary sense: in social species, paying attention to high-status individuals provides information about successful strategies. Who mates successfully? Who controls resources? Who wins conflicts? Watching dominants teaches subordinates how to navigate the social hierarchy.
Celebrity culture, gossip, fashion trends, influencer marketing—all exploit cognitive mechanisms shaped by millions of years of primate social evolution. We're still monkeys willing to sacrifice juice to look at high-status faces.
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References:
Deaner, R. O., Khera, A. V., & Platt, M. L. (2005). Monkeys pay per view: adaptive valuation of social images by rhesus macaques. Current Biology, 15(6), 543-548.
Kendal, R. L., et al. (2015). Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: implications for cultural diversity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(1), 65-72.
