Celebrity Worship Among Adolescents is Driven by Neuroticism, Avoidant Identity Style, and Need to Belong

Abstract

Media celebrities can exert significant influence on societal change, and adolescents are the most vulnerable population to such influence given that this is a period when personal identity-seeking starts to become increasingly important. However, there is a lack of research examining the factors that contribute to adolescents’ vulnerability to celebrity worship. The present study investigated the relationship between neuroticism, avoidant identity style, and celebrity worship among adolescents with a particular focus on mediating the role of the need to belong among a convenience sample of Iranian adolescents (N = 396; girls = 68%; age = 15.76 ± 1.99). Structural equation modeling showed that the association between avoidant identity style and celebrity worship was partially mediated by the need to belong, while the latter fully mediated the relationship between neuroticism and celebrity worship. The findings draw attention to the need to belong as an important factor underlying celebrity worship. Limitations and future directions are discussed.