Cited in Yahoo Health – Why We Care So Much About Anna Duggar

With the Ashley Madison data leaking and celebrity break-ups and betrayals circulated in the media, it isn’t hard to find yourself thinking about betrayal and infidelity and wondering if it could happen to you. And if it did, what you would do. Watching this ordeal play out with the Duggars draws us in, and I was pleased to help out with this great piece by Korin Miller looking at Why We Care So Much About Anna Duggar Staying With Her Cheating Husband.

So why do we care so much?

It’s human nature, licensed clinical psychologist Alicia H. Clark, PsyD, tells Yahoo Health. “We are drawn to follow situations and events that remind us of our own fears and insecurities,” she says. “Nothing promotes more insecurity than the idea of being completely vulnerable in a relationship and being betrayed.”

We often look to celebrities and other role models to show us how to navigate these life challenges, she says. And, when they make a move that seems like a mistake, it reinforces that bad things happen to everyone — which can shake us.

The betrayal aspect is also compelling and upsetting, even though we don’t know Anna Duggar.

“We can’t help but feel understandable anxiety watching this injustice, and want an outlet for our anger and our fear,” says Clark. “We want the injustice to be corrected.”

The cheating in particular resonates with people, says Clark, because most of us have serious fears about being the victim of infidelity and betrayal.