In an era where the glimmer of celebrity culture shines brighter than ever thanks to social media, a recent study sheds light on an intriguing link between celebrity adoration and underlying social and psychological dynamics. New findings suggest that insecure people with social anxiety are more prone to the idolization of public figures.

The psychology of celebrity worship

The rise of the internet has made it easier for people to form parasocial relationships. In these, fans develop one-sided emotional connections with celebrities. This phenomenon is more common among today’s youth, with an increasing number of young people idolizing public figures. Parasocial relationships range from a simple, enthusiastic interest in a celebrity’s well-being to an extreme, unhealthy obsession.

Previous studies suggest that while interest in celebrities decreases from junior high through college, nearly half of all college students still have a favorite celebrity.

Recent findings link celebrity worship to behavioral addictions, including gambling, excessive Internet use, substance abuse, and social media dependency. Additionally, intense celebrity adoration is tied to negative psychological outcomes like anxiety, depression, and obsessive thoughts.

Psychologists at Shaanxi Normal University sought to validate the absorption-addiction model, which proposes that people who regard celebrities with almost cult-like reverence do so as a sort of band-aid for personal and social voids. The researchers surveyed 1,147 young adults recruited from campuses across universities in China.

The participants were assessed for four key metrics:

• celebrity worship, which measures the level of personal dedication to a favorite celebrity across multiple dimensions, from purely entertainment purposes to borderline-pathological obsession.
• social anxiety focusing on the respondents’ experiences of anxiety in social situations over the past week.
• mobile phone dependence, assessed using a special scale that explores symptoms of addiction across various dimensions, such as inability to control craving and feeling anxious and lost without the device.
• socioeconomic status, approximated by parental income levels.

From admiration to obsession

Anxiety, admiration and obsession

The study confirms that social anxiety significantly predicts celebrity worship. This finding supports the theory that people might turn to celebrities to fill a void caused by insufficient interpersonal relationships or a lack of meaningful social interactions. Individuals with high levels of social anxiety tend to use mobile phones more frequently as a coping mechanism, which, in turn, increases their engagement with celebrity culture. This confirms previous studies that found social anxiety and excessive phone screen time go hand in hand.

Socioeconomic status (SES) was also positively associated with celebrity worship. Wealthier young people can afford to donate money, purchase merchandise, or subscribe to paid services from their favorite celebrities.

At the same time, SES is also a mediating factor. Participants from higher SES backgrounds show lower levels of mobile phone dependence when experiencing social anxiety, which suggests that SES can act as a protective factor against excessive involvement in celebrity culture. The research also reveals that females are generally more engaged in celebrity worship.

“It has been shown that parents with high SES have higher parental involvement and more positive parenting, which can improve youths’ cognitive ability and assist them to develop good habits, thus reducing mobile phone dependence,” the researchers wrote.

It’s important to note that this focused on a specific demographic in China. And you might want to take its findings with a grain of salt. Make no mistake, though — celebrity worship is very real and it can sometimes reach clinical extremes.

In a 2014 study, aptly titled “I’m Your Number One Fan — A Clinical Look at Celebrity Worship”, researchers found this type of parasocial relationship can cause “concerns about body image (particularly among young adolescents), greater proneness to cosmetic surgery, sensation-seeking, cognitive rigidity, identity diffusion, and poor interpersonal boundaries.”

There is nothing wrong with admiring a celebrity as long as it stays within the healthy bounds of inspiration, rather than tipping into the realm of obsession.

The new findings appeared in the journal BMC Psychology.