The Psychology of Celebrity Worship

Posted on November 17, 2016

Photo: flickr

The American historian and educator Daniel Boorstin once wrote, "Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities."

We have just experienced a highly controversial presidential campaign and we struggle to fight against rising terrorism threats. With all of these pressing issues weighing on the hearts and minds of America’s families, what seems to be on the covers of every magazine and tabloid these days? Celebrity nonsense. Does anyone really care which teen-aged pop star will give birth next? Do we need to know every happening inside the birthday party of a power-couple's toddler? Is the diet that worked for the soap opera star really going to work for anyone else?

As long as there have been people who pulled away from the proverbial pack, there have been people to follow them and idolize them. However, scientists have only recently defined the psychological phenomenon of "celebrity worship" as a type of parasocial relationship that can have unhealthy and addictive elements.

Much research has been conducted about who engages in celebrity worship and what drives the compulsion. Celebrity worship for purely entertainment purposes likely reflects an extraverted personality and is most likely a healthy past time for most people. This type of celebrity worship involves harmless behaviors such as reading and learning about a celebrity. Intense personal attitudes towards celebrities, however, reflect traits of neuroticism. The most extreme descriptions of celebrity worship exhibit borderline pathological behavior and traits of psychoticism. This type of celebrity worship may involve empathy with a celebrity's failures and successes, obsessions with the details of a celebrity's life, and over-identification with the celebrity.

One study of 372 participants examined celebrity worship, personality, coping style, general health, stress, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction. The researchers concluded that celebrity worship is associated with poorer mental health, illustrated by characteristics of neuroticism and disengagement. Some studies have pointed out that people with poor mental health are more prone to extreme celebrity worship, while others conclude that depression, anxiety, and decreased self-esteem develop from unhealthy celebrity worship. Several studies have also demonstrated a connection between celebrity worship and drug and alcohol use, smoking, and eating disorders. Yet another study concluded that celebrity worship involves a psychological model based on absorption, which leads to delusions of actual relationships with celebrities, and addiction, which leads to a progressively stronger need to feel connected with the celebrity.

Celebrity worship is not all bad. Idolizing or admiring someone for their accomplishments, and then pushing yourself to excel in the same way are positive elements. But, are we worshipping celebrities for the sake of being famous, or are we worshipping true heroes? Interestingly, participants in one study had similar measures for both heroes and celebrities. True heroes are people like our military men and women, our police officers and firefighters, our teachers and paramedics, and our mothers and fathers. These are the men and women who will stand the test of time and truly leave their mark on the world, unlike the athletes, movie stars, and singers who will fade into obscurity. If we confuse heroes and celebrities, we deprive ourselves of real role models. We should admire those who are famous because they are great, not those who seem great because they are famous.

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