Celebrity Worship Syndrome

DisclaimerThis page is not here to be used as a self-diagnosis, self-identification, or promotion - it's simply here to be informational. Whether or not one self-diagnoses, self-identifies, and/or seeks a professional diagnosis is up to them.

**Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS/CW)** is a type of parasocial relationship that occurs when admiration of a celebrity shifts into an obsessive fascination and preoccupation. The individual becomes overly involved and interested with the details of the personal life of a celebrity.

It's been described as an obsessive-addictive disorder, though it's not clinically recognized in the DSM-5.

### Celebrity Worshiper vs Fan

While celebrity worship has been widely studied, it's also been widely criticized. Some researchers have tended to use the terms "celebrity worshiper" and "fan" interchangeably. Using the terms synonymously has led to the pathologization of fans, even though most individuals who are fans of celebrities don't exhibit mental health issues or unhealthy behaviors towards the celebrity.

Media psychologist and fan researcher Gayle Stever attempted to tease out the two concepts by administrating the Celebrity Attitude Scale to a sample of serious fans who had either written letters to celebrities, attended fan events with access to celebrities, joined and participated in fan club activities, or collected a great deal of memorabilia related to their favorite celebrity.

The study found that not all fans were celebrity worshipers. The closest participants came to being considered celebrity worshipers were on the entertainment-social level. Many did not meet the necessary criteria to be considered a celebrity worshiper.

Despite the way it's been discussed in the research literature, this study indicates celebrity worshiper and fan should be considered different constructs, and while being a celebrity worshiper can be pathologically problematic, in general, being a celebrity fan is not.

## Dimensions of Celebrity Worship

There has been three independent dimensions of celebrity worship identified, those included are:

### Entertainment-Social

The entertainment social dimension relates to attitudes where individuals are attracted to a celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain and to become a social focus of conversation with likeminded others.

### Intense-Personal

The intense-personal dimension relates to individuals who have intense and compulsive feelings about a celebrity.

### Borderline Pathological

The borderline-pathological dimension relates to individuals who display uncontrollable behaviors and fantasies relating to a celebrity.

## Causes

There's no known direct cause of celebrity worship syndrome. As a condition with obsessive-addictive properties, the presence of certain mental health condition may play a role in the development of celebrity worship.

Individuals who have a higher chance of developing celebrity worship tendencies include those living with:

* Anxious-ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles.
* Materialism.
* Fantasy proneness.
* Low self-esteem.
* Narcissistic personality disorder.
* Cognitive inflexibility
* Poor intimate relationships.
* Difficulty coping with conflict.
* Depression.
* Anxiety.
* Obsessive-compulsive disorders and behaviors.
* Dissociation.
* Poor personal boundaries.
* Addictive disorders.

## References

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-excess/201307/celebrity-worship-syndrome

https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-psychology-of-celebrity-worship

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-celebrity-worship-5219745