University Essay: Psychology of Celebrity Worship and Obsession

This essay delves into the increasing fascination with celebrities and their lifestyles, exploring the psychological underpinnings of celebrity worship. It examines the motivations behind this trend, including the role of social and empty selves, and discusses how individuals may use celebrities as social surrogates to fulfill their social needs. The essay analyzes the continuum of celebrity worship, from mild interest to pathological obsession, and highlights the potential negative outcomes, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. It also explores the impact of social media in fostering connections and intensifying the obsession. The essay draws on various studies and theories to provide a comprehensive understanding of this complex phenomenon, offering insights into the behaviors of celebrity fans and the implications of celebrity worship in modern society.

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English
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

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The interest in celebrity lives and lifestyles have been increasing as a trend as millennial
generation tend to obsess and worship them a bit too much. This preoccupation of obsession and
interests is broadly associated with the nature and culture of entertainment in the modern times.
It is not new that people tend to show interest and curiosity in celebrity lives, but as the
entertainment industry has grown in the years, so have the interest obsession too. Let’s discuss
this trend of fascination with celebrities, their living and whereabouts in details through this post.
The growing fascination towards celebs have been read and scrutinized to a great degree
to get to the motivations behind the same. It is debatable whether or not it is healthy as a practice
to worship or obsess over celebrity lives and choices to the extent of being influenced and
sometimes even replicating them for acceptance or conformation. Some people are often seen
being attracted celebrities, which is an act of getting over their inadequacies, which can also be
referred to suffering from empty self. On the other hand, people also revere and feel allured by

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celebrities for their creativity, and thus they seek out, which is often described in terms of
creating connections from the social self.

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Celebrity worship can be understood with the help of a theory which was developed by
Lynn McCutcheon which states that these behavior and patterns are motivated by both of their
social and empty selves (Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Martin & Cayanus, 2004). However, the
theory is more interesting as they aim to probe into such obsession and worship, which is much
intense in nature and are studied from a pathological perspective, like being on a continuum. In
other words, it can be said that on a relatively normal state they are governed by their social
selves, while on a deeper level, the motivation come from the empty selves, which may as well
tend to be abnormal in nature.
It is very common between friends to talk about celebrities and various entertainment
elements, which enhance social connections as well as become an entertainment activity itself.
However, these might as well be at the mildest level of celebrity obsession or worship. On the
contrary if one relates and grows interest over celebrity and their personal lives, on an intense
and personal level, it is considered to be on a deeper level, for which one may tend to grow

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preoccupation more than what is regarded as normal. The third categorization is graded as
borderline pathological, in which one tends to be severely obsessive to an extent to preserve false
beliefs and even erotomania. When one obsessed to the extent of reaching the deepest level, he
or she may as well tend to ignore their social lives, friends, facilities and day to day activities,
and engage in other activities, such as day dreaming and stalking. McCutcheon identifies this to
be addictive, for which one feeds the thoughts to satiate their own obsession and interest which
gives rise to negative outcomes (Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Martin & Cayanus, 2004). If a
closer attention is paid to such behavior and patterns of obsession, it can be found out that one
may tend to even develop low self-esteem, feeling inadequate about the things which exist in
reality and thus poor satisfaction in life. AT the deepest level of celebrity obsession, when they
daydream and try to connect with their subject of admiration and adoration, people tend to suffer
from anxiety, depression and even neuroticism.
Another study has revealed that these social needs which are developed by people while
obsessing are often met through social surrogates, which the author says, is symbolic in nature
(Gabriel, Valenti & Young, 2016). Social surrogates might be in the form of narratives, stories
which are either real or fictional, television, books and even movies, through which people
engage in para-social interactions and relationship. These relationships are one sided which
involve a character or a celebrity. This boosts the self-esteem as they tend to believe that they
have a relationship, and thus indulge themselves. Social media is one of the mediums which help
people who obsess to actually connect with their subject of adoration, or the celebrities, which
help them develop connections which go beyond para-social relationships (Zsila, McCutcheon &
Demetrovics, 2018). It can be exemplified when one studies behavior and attitudes of fan base of
celebrities, who are devoted.

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The growing trend of celebrity worship is alarming as well as fascinating to study
however, it is very important to keep in mind, the negative outcomes, if one indulges in
obsession and worship of celebrities, out of poor self-esteem and inadequacy.

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References
Gabriel, S., Valenti, J., & Young, A. F. (2016). Social surrogates, social motivations, and
everyday activities: The case for a strong, subtle, and sneaky social self. In Advances in
experimental social psychology (Vol. 53, pp. 189-243). Academic Press.
Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L. E., Martin, M. M., & Cayanus, J. L. (2004). Celebrity
worship, cognitive flexibility, and social complexity. Personality and Individual
Differences, 37(7), 1475-1482.
Zsila, Á., McCutcheon, L. E., & Demetrovics, Z. (2018). The association of celebrity worship
with problematic Internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire for fame. Journal of
behavioral addictions, 7(3), 654-664.
Bibliography
Ang, C. S., & Chan, N. N. (2018). Adolescents’ views on celebrity worship: A qualitative
study. Current Psychology, 37(1), 139-148.