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Chapter 14 Update - September 2005
I’m your biggest fan - what makes a celebrity worshipper worship
Shakespeare, in his day, probably had his fervent fans, but the explosion of media
available in the 21st century means that people can gorge themselves on as much
information about celebrities as they want. According to research, fans (or ‘celebrity
worshippers’) tend to be adolescents or young adults and enjoy ‘game-playing’ in
romantic relationships. They appear to be no more or less shy or lonely than is normal
but the degree of worship has been associated with psychological disorder. Some fans
can cross the conventional line between worshipping at a distance and becoming overlyobsessed by their idol.
Maltby, McCutcheon and their colleagues have developed a scale in which celebrity
worship is characterised in three ways (Maltby et al, 2001; McCutcheon et al, 2002).
Low levels of worship are characterised as having entertainment-social value (e.g., ‘My
friends and I like to discuss what my favourite celebrity has done’). Intermediate levels
are expressed in attitudes such as ‘I consider my favourite celebrity to be my soul mate’
(intense-personal value). Extreme levels, called borderline-pathological, are expressed
in views such as ‘If I were lucky enough to meet my celebrity, and he/she asked me to do
something illegal as a favour, I would probably do it’. These three variants of worship
may be underpinned by Eysenck’s three personality types: extraversion, neuroticism and
psychoticism. Those expressing low levels of worship, for example, tend to be extravert
(sociable, lively, active, etc), those expressing intermediate levels tend to be neurotic
(tense, moody, emotional), and those showing evidence of borderline pathological
attitudes express some of the traits seen in the psychoticism scale, such as impulsivity
and anti-social behaviour (Maltby et al, 2003).
To examine the relationship between celebrity worship, personality and mental health,
Maltby et al (2004) administered measures of celebrity worship, personality, coping
style, stress, general health and life satisfaction to 372 members of the public, recruited
from workplaces and community areas in the north of England. No attempt was made to
control for previous or current history of mental illness.
In the sample, 15% were classified as showing the entertainment-social attitudes; 55 the
intense-personal attitudes and 1% the pathological attitudes. The researchers found that,
as predicted in their previous study, the three levels of worship were significantly
correlated with personality type. They suggest that celebrity worshippers who follow
their idols for entertainment or social reasons are extravert, seek information and support
and are open in showing their emotions. Those who follow their idols for intense or
personal reasons are neurotic. Those at the extreme end were more likely to use humour
to cope with life, to use drink and drugs and to be non-religious.
Surprisingly, only one level of worship was associated with mental health problems.
Those celebrity worshipping for intense-personal reasons had poorer general health
(depression, anxiety and social dysfunction), expressed more negative affect (stress
and low life satisfaction) and did not cope effectively with everyday life events.
The researchers suggest that these problems may be underpinned by personality style
(neuroticism) - one that reflects a disengagement from life.
Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L.E., Gillett, R., Houran, J. & Ashe, D.D. (2004).
Personality and coping: A context for examining celebrity worship and mental health.
British Journal of Psychology, 95, 411-428.
Maltby, J., Houran, J. & McCutcheon, L.E. (2003). Locating celebrity worship within
Eysenck’s personality dimensions. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191, 25-29.
Maltby, J., McCutcheon, L.E., Ashe, D.D. & Houran, J. (2001). The self-reported
psychological well-being of celebrity worshippers. North American Journal of
Psychology, 3, 441-452.
McCutcheon, L.E., Lange, R. & Houran, J. (2002). Conceptualization and measurement
of celebrity worship. British Journal of Psychology, 93, 67-87.