Celebrity Worship Syndrome Analysis

Introduction and Background Information

Celebrity worship syndrome is a personality disorder that is becoming more apparent in 21st century Australia, and it is estimated that 30% of the population has it. Several studies have shown that celebrity worship is more prevalent in adolescents, especially teen and preteen girls. When the British boy band One Direction toured Australia in late 2013, many articles were published surrounding the hysteria that many girls were experiencing. The Adelaide Entertainment Centre CEO said that they “were expecting lots of teenage girls” and needed to set up the centre with “reserved seating only … to mitigate the risk of any crushing…”. Additionally, there were countless celebrity worship articles published, including a story about a fifteen-year-old Australian girl who started working part-time in a café so that she could spend all of her money on the band’s merchandise, approximately $130 a week. This report will be exploring the different aspects of celebrity worship syndrome to address whether celebrity worship is a prominent issue in Australian society that needs to be addressed.

What is a celebrity?

Nowadays, many dictionaries have included in their definition

of a celebrity someone who is well known or famous for being an entertainer. The Cambridge dictionary defines a celebrity as “someone who is famous, especially in the entertainment business.” Additionally, many people who are famous nowadays seem to be thrust into the limelight out of the blue, or are famous for no particular reason. Daniel J. Boorstin, a past American historian, defined celebrity as “a person who is well-known for his well-knownness”. The essayist Joseph Epstein commented on this definition in his essay ‘The Culture of Celebrity” featured in the The Weekly Standard. He explained that even though this definition covers a lot of what it means to be a celebrity, it doesn’t encapsulate all elements to fame. He debates that to a great extent fame is something that is earned through hard work, either by achievement or by talent, and that ‘celebrity’ itself is something that takes cultivation, or can be suddenly thrust upon a person. Epstein explains that many modern celebrities depend upon ‘hype’ for their fame, causing people to create a hierarchy of fame. Overtime this labelling has changed from ‘stars’ to ‘superstars’, which were derived from astronomy, to the religious “icons” so that they can exercise a bigger influence.

Psychological aspects of celebrity worship
Knowing how celebrity worship works is fundamental to understanding why girls worship celebrities. In 2002, McCutcheon, Houran and Lange introduced the Celebrity Worship Scale, which shows three different stages of celebrity worship. Low worship, the first stage, is when a person appreciates a celebrity because of their talent and capability to entertain. They enjoy reading and watching about celebrity for entertainment. These people are most likely to have an extraverted personality and enjoy learning about celebrities as a harmless pastime. Those with intense-personal celebrity worship may feel like their life is affected by whatever happens to their favourite celebrities or they may feel as if they have a special bond with them. It is also found that these attitudes reflect some neurotic qualities. The most extreme form of celebrity worship is borderline/pathological celebrity worship. This form displays psychotic traits and borderline pathological behaviour. Those who have this are said to “display excessive empathy with the celebrity’s successes and failures, over-identify with a celebrity, and obsessively follow the details of a celebrity’s life.” Although, celebrity worship doesn’t create pathology; rather, it is a means for pathology to be expressed.

Extensive studies have shown that girls are primarily affected by celebrity worship. A research project survey was conducted which included 166 girls between the ages of 12 and 21, from both private and public schools. Overall, 78.08% of girls said that they enjoy either reading or watching videos about celebrities to some extent. 12.23% had qualities of intense-personal celebrity worship, and 10.33% had borderline/ pathological traits of celebrity worship. The age group which displayed the most extreme numbers in relation to celebrity worship was the 14 year olds. 80.21% of the girls had traits of low level worship to an extent, 15.8% of girls said that they experience intense-personal traits and 15.63% of girls admitted to having borderline/pathological traits. There was a decrease in the 18-21-year-old age group, as shown in the table below. None of the respondents in this age group thought they had a special bond with their celebrity or that their favourite celebrity would come to their immediate rescue if they needed any help. This decrease in worship might signify that celebrity worship is merely a phase for many girls and does not have a great negative effect on their lives.

Biological and Sociological Reasoning Behind Celebrity Worship

Although there are may psychological reasons behind how celebrity worship works and why many people experience it, there are biological reasons as to why humans have a tendency to look up to celebrities. Stuart Fischoff, PhD, says that our need to follow and worship an idol is in our DNA. Fischoff says that sociologically, we are preprogramed to “follow the leader,” as humans are social beings who look to alpha females and males in their ‘pack’. As celebrities and the Hollywood system is a $3 billion industry, it makes sense that people look up to celebrities as they are a prominent source of success and lead lavish lifestyles that many people envy. Several studies have also shown that some celebrity worship has been linked to having positive aspirations in life as the celebrity is a model of success for many people. This correlates to the 42.77% of girls who said that many of their role models are celebrities in the research project survey.

The reasoning behind girls worshipping male celebrities is actually a factor of healthy sexual development. Girls physically and emotionally mature at an age earlier than boys, so they experience their romantic awakening earlier, which is why they put great stress on how their body looks. Additionally, as humans are slightly more evolved than other primates, it means that skills and prestige are held in higher regard then just physical strength or being a “fierce warrior”. In this society, celebrities are those who possess the skills, talent, prestige and high social status, so it is not uncommon for people to copy them in an attempt to boost their own social status. One of the ways that this is achieved by women is copying clothing, hair and makeup. The research project survey showed that 33.33% of 15-year-old girls said that a celebrity inspired their personal style.

The fear of being romantically successful during adolescence is high, which is why girls feel pressured to have a success romance, or turn to boy bands instead. Celebrities such as Justin Bieber and One Direction can actually provide relief for girls from their romantic anxieties, e.g. “They’re not too much older, they’re attractive, popular and gentle”. Song lyrics which address the fans can boost their self esteem, e.g. Justin Bieber’s “If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go” and One Direction’s “You don’t know you’re beautiful” both have this effect. These celebrities are considered “sexy without being sexually threatening,” which means that girls can safely experience these emotions without feeling any pressure to advance sexually, as they might be in a real relationship. This directly correlates to the research project survey, where 30.1% of girls either had Justin Bieber or One Direction as their favourite celebrity/celebrities, and 32.25% of 14-year-old girls, the age when girls become physically mature, mentioned male singers as their favourite celebrities.

Negative effects and Limitations of Celebrity Worship

Although there are positive aspects to celebrity worship, there are also negative factors to take into account. Dr Lin Fang stated in an interview that “…girls who strongly idolize celebrities tend to buy into … commercial culture and … become overly materialistic. The pressure coming from celebrities with perfect bodies may lead to an unrealistic body image … which can consume a child’s life.” Even though many psychologists have stated that celebrity worship is generally healthy or harmless, they have also stated that it can be negative if it takes over your life. This is due to the fact that it can promote isolated behaviour and cause the worshipper to fixate more on the lives of their favourite celebrity than forming relationships in their own life.

Accredited journal articles, including the article published in the Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience and the New Age of Celebrity Worship published on WebMD have shown correlations between celebrity worship and mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety. This is also reflected in the research project interview 2, where the interviewee stated that celebrities have caused her symptoms of anxiety and depression. She stated that “There was actually a phase after the Beyoncé concert … that I honestly felt depressed after … it was just that … Beyoncé… came and left so quickly… There was also a missed opportunity … to get VIP… [I] just became depressed over that for so long it was ridiculous.” She also stated that when celebrities say they struggle with physical or mental adversities, it reinforces the connection that she feels with them. “Demi Lovato, for example, … she went to treatment. … came out with similar issues, issues that I’ve struggled with … and that just reinforces in your head that you relate to that person so much … That connection got so much stronger when she came out and spoke about her issues.” Although, feeling as if you have a connection with a celebrity is a trait of intense-personal worship, which can have detrimental mental effects.

From a religious perspective, celebrity worship syndrome may be considered as idolatry, where instead of statues or figures people worship humans as if they are ‘more than’ human. Celebrity worship may therefore violate a person’s beliefs or values, especially if they are unaware of consciously worshipping celebrities. There are also positive associations between celebrity worship and the tendency to have an addiction, criminality, stalking behaviour, compulsive buying and mental illnesses. This correlates to the Advertiser articles which explains how many Australian girls have stalked bands and pop stars when they are on tour, and to the research project survey where 28.57% of 17 year olds said that they have tried to stalk celebrities before. The research project interviews, where girls who expressed both low-level and intense/borderline traits explained that celebrities have influenced their spending. The girl who experiences intense traits explained that “You actually want to make yourself look like them a little bit or act like them”, and acknowledged that “They [celebrities] have so much influence. This explanation correlates to the research project survey where 14.56% of girls said that they would try something new if a celebrity has done it. Furthermore, the research project survey also showed a correlation between celebrity worship and criminality. One of the questions to identify potential borderline/pathological celebrity worship is by giving a positive answer to the question “If a celebrity asked me to do something illegal as a favour for them, I would probably do it.” The survey showed that 28.13% of 14 year olds and 22.22% of 16 year olds agreed to this statement.

Conclusion

Celebrity worship in Australian girls is more prominent than in the general public, as more than 30% of girls surveyed have expressed celebrity worship tendencies, in addition to the mass hysteria that teenage girls have expressed over favourite pop stars.

There is a correlation between maturing and a decrease in celebrity worship in girls, although some still experience more than low-level traits. Whether this celebrity worship is negative or not depends on the individual’s beliefs, in addition to if the worship is controlling their lives or not. A little bit of admiration can be beneficial, but worshipping celebrities can have detrimental effects. Parents should keep an eye on their children to make sure any worship does not become unhealthy or life

controlling.