Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, and the Fish Kiss No One Asked For

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello started dating shortly after the release of their collaborated song, “Señorita.” It is unknown if their relationship is valid or not, but Mendes claims that it is. According to an article posted by TMZ, Shawn and Camila have “seen the comments on social media from haters making fun of their makeout sessions — comparing them to fish sucking” (Staff, T. M. Z., 2019, p.2). In response to the allegations, Mendes and Cabello posted a video of them kissing in a rather disturbing way to prove that their relationship is real and that they don’t kiss like fish. Their relationship and responses demonstrate the Spotlight Effect and Behavioral Confirmation.

The spotlight effect is when one believes attention is focused on them more than it actually is when they demonstrate a certain behavior or are thinking about their appearance. Mendes and Cabello created an unsettling video by awkwardly licking each other’s faces. This came as a result of them feeling self-conscious about their public display of affection. Their kissing hasn’t made the news except for the outrageous one that they themselves posted. They were so concerned about their PDA that they believed everyone was watching how they kiss, thus illustrating the spotlight effect. They may not have received much attention for kissing before, but this kiss sparked the interest and attention from fans and other celebrities. 

Although some believe that the relationship is a publicity stunt for their new song and careers, the loyal fans are quick to stand by the couple. Behavioral confirmation is when society’s assumptions cause people to act out in ways that confirms others’ expectations of them. Mendes and Cabello demonstrate behavioral confirmation by acting how the fans want to see them. If the fans think that their relationship if true due to displays of affection, then the couple will deliver just that. This further pushes fans to see them both as a committed couple and not as a publicity stunt. Shawn wants his fans to believe in his relationship with Camila and the fans want a relationship to follow between the two of them. Both sides feed off of each other’s reactions and responses which shows that behavioral confirmation came into play.

Alexandria Glover

References

Bailey, A. (2019, September 20). Shawn Mendes Wants You to Know His Relationship With Camila Cabello Is ‘Not a Publicity Stunt’. Retrieved from https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a29122311/shawn-mendes-camila-cabello-kissing-date-fake-relationship-response/.

Murray, Tom. “Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello Shared an Instagram Video Showing ‘How We Really Kiss’ after People Accused Them of Kissing like Fish.” Insider, Insider, 12 Sept. 2019, https://www.insider.com/shawn-mendes-camila-cabello-share-video-how-they-really-kiss-2019-9. (picture)

Staff, T. M. Z. (2019, September 12). Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes Show Haters How They Really Kiss. Retrieved from https://www.tmz.com/2019/09/12/camila-cabello-shawn-mendes-kissing-fish-licking-twitter-haters/.

 

5 thoughts on “Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, and the Fish Kiss No One Asked For”

  1. I think that this was a very interesting demonstration of the spotlight effect and how it can impact celebrities. Since Cabello and Mendes are both celebrities, I never would have expected the spotlight effect to show throughout their daily lives. I’m honestly not sure if the spotlight effect applies to celebrities, because they are constantly under heavy scrutiny regarding their every day actions. However, I think that it’s a cool perspective to consider that Cabello and Mendes actually display the spotlight effect through social media.

  2. Alexandria,

    Great job on this blog post! The connections you made from the class material to the content of your story was valid and reflective! From the perspective of an audience member, I felt as though you conveyed the definition of the spotlight effect, for which is when an individual believes there is more attention and focus on them than there actually really is, in a good way as after reading it I had a full understanding of the term. I also thought your depiction of behavioral confirmation made sense as well. I was able to understand that the purpose of them kissing may have been just because they were behaving in a way that confirmed other people’s social expectations of them. The fans thought and wanted to believe their relationship was true, so they acted out in a way(such as the exaggerated kissing) that confirmed those expectations.

    I feel as though this example can also demonstrate hindsight bias. After viewing the content posted by Shawn and Camila, the viewers may have then claimed that they knew their relationship was true and real all along. This is an example of hindsight bias because only after witnessing the outcome of a situation, the outcome being their kiss, was when the viewer announced that they knew about their relationship all along.

    Overall, great job on this!

    1. I think that this is a great blog post! It clearly demonstrates the two concepts of spotlight effect, and behavioral confirmation. I understood both terms clearly from your definition posted. From the two concepts you chose, I was able to understand that Shawn and Camila posted that video of them pretending to kiss in the way that others viewed them. People viewed them as kissing like fish, and that is exactly how they acted out in the video they posted. Another concept that could also connect to this article is confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when you look for information that confirms one’s preconceptions. Basically saying, Shawn and Camila posted that video in hopes to get a reaction from their fans and followers. And that is exactly what they got. They posted the video to feed into the conceptions people had about they way they kiss.
      Nice Job on this.

  3. I think that this is a great blog post! It clearly demonstrates the two concepts of spotlight effect, and behavioral confirmation. I understood both terms clearly from your definition posted. From the two concepts you chose, I was able to understand that Shawn and Camila posted that video of them pretending to kiss in the way that others viewed them. People viewed them as kissing like fish, and that is exactly how they acted out in the video they posted. Another concept that could also connect to this article is confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when you look for information that confirms one’s preconceptions. Basically saying, Shawn and Camila posted that video in hopes to get a reaction from their fans and followers. And that is exactly what they got. They posted the video to feed into the conceptions people had about they way they kiss.

    1. Also aside from confirmation bias, fundamental attribution error is the tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences upon others’ behavior. So, Shawn and Camila posted that video knowing people would react upon it and they still went on and posted it. They underestimated how many people actually wanted to know if they were together or not, and this video proved that they actually are together.

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