Gossip gold: Why hearing about a celeb's misfortune 'feels like winning the lottery'

A study has found that stories about famous people stir-up feel-good chemicals in the brain in the same way as winning the lottery.

17:59 27 January 2015

A recent study has revealed that hearing about a celebrity’s misfortune stirs up feel-good chemicals in the brain the same way as eating the finest food or even winning the lottery.

Researchers scanned the brains of a group of students while they read gossip about them, their best friends, and a host of movie stars. Some of the gossip included having an affair or walking out on their family. The brain scans revealed that the students were particularly pleased by stars’ misfortune.

Adam Perkins, neurobiologist from King’s College, London, said: ‘Celebrities are particularly likely to be envied, and when they fall from grace we therefore are likely to feel particularly happy,’ he said.

‘An interesting follow-up study would be to investigate whether personality characteristics affect responses to negative gossip about celebrities.

‘For example, and this is speculative, people who are prone to feeling miserable might gain pleasure from hearing about celebrities having a bad time because it makes them feel that famous people can also feel bad.’