Celebrity misbehavior

Celebrities appear to engage in more anti-social behavior than the rest of us. What might be some reasons for this?

1. Famous people are simply crazy.

2. Rich people can get away with more.

3. Stars seek publicity, even “bad” publicity, to boost their celebrity.

4. Many celebrities are young and thus immature.

5. Celebrities are stressed, lack privacy, and are out of touch with the real world.

6. Celebrities get away with more because they can. You cannot substitute for them very easily.

Some of these propositions receive explicit tests from Todd Kendall of Clemson University. Kendall looks at technical fouls in the NBA; this penalty is assigned when a player hits another, screams at the referee, or engages in other forms of unsportsmanlike conduct. We learn the following:

a) Technical fouls are positively correlated with bad behavior off the court.

b) The more dominant a player is on a team, the more likely he commits technical fouls. Remember this guy?

c) Youth does not predict a player’s propensity to commit technical fouls. In fact older players commit more technical fouls. (Note to self: counterexample)

d) Committing technical fouls, adjusting for other variables, is not associated with higher income (this goes against number three above.

e) On a given team, technical fouls are not “contagious.”

f) Much of bad behavior is not predicted by any particular variable and thus can be thought of as idiosyncratic.

My take: The worst offenders are frustrated, spoiled brats who hate losing, can’t stand their teammates, but carry their teams on their backs.

Addendum: It is not easy to get your parents to sue you, read this update from the world of tennis.