Posters in the bedroom, concerts, hours spent following the slightest appearance of a star… The adoration of celebrities is part of the landscape, especially during adolescence. For some, it’s a simple pleasure, almost a game. For others, the border between passion and obsession becomes blurred, without us always understanding what is happening in the background. Recent work is beginning to connect this idolâtrie des célébrités
to older injuries. A study published in the journal
Psychological
Reports suggests that childhood traumavia depression, anxiety and stress in adulthood, can fuel very intense parasocial relationships with stars or, conversely, lead to a total withdrawal from celebrity culture.
From ordinary fan to celebrity cult
The researchers describe the syndrome d’adoration des
célébrités like a continuum. At first, the interest is simply entertaining: we like a singer, a group, an actress, we talk about it with our friends. The so-called “absorption-addiction” model then describes a possible rise towards more intense levels, where the celebrity becomes a figure of identification, then towards a borderline level, with extreme behavior, time and money swallowed up, daily life disrupted. In this context the famous parasocial relationships appear: a one-way bond where the fan has the impression of “knowing” the star, while the star is unaware of his existence.
Another study, published in BMC
Psychologyhighlights a central element: the feeling of interior emptiness. Adults reporting a lot of loneliness or social exclusion more often had this experience of psychological “hollowness”. This void increased the need to belong and identification of “I want to be like my favorite celebrity”, which, in turn, predicted a high level of celebrity worship.
Childhood trauma, psychological distress and celebrity idolization
The study is based on 367 students from four American universities, mainly women, with an average age of 20 years. All completed online questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward celebrities, their psychological distress
recent life (symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress), their “pathological concern for others” and their adverse experiences before age 18 (abuse, neglect, very dangerous environment, etc.). The researchers, including psychologist Lynn E. McCutcheon, used a statistical model to examine multiple links at the same time.
The results were clear: the more depression, anxiety and stress the students reported, the more obsession they had with celebrities. Excessive concern for the needs of others seemed at first also linked to this obsession, but only because these people were already very distressed. Once this factor is taken into account, the pathological concern no longer predicted star worship. In other words, psychological suffering remains the main driving force that pushes some people to invest massively in the imaginary relationship with an idol, without one being able to speak of strict causality.
A window on childhood wounds?
The place of childhood trauma in this story turns out to be more nuanced than expected. Researchers expected that a very painful past would directly lead to more intense celebrity worship. Rather, the data point to two paths: an indirect path, where more trauma leads to more psychological distress in adulthood, which increases the likelihood of extreme worship; and a direct, weak and slightly negative path, suggesting that certain people who have experienced serious violence instead cut themselves off from star culture, as if any form of intense attachment became threatening.
In daily life, we actually observe contrasting profiles: the “super-fan” teenager who finds in a singer an almost vital reference point, and the adult marked by abuse who is disinterested in any public figure, out of protection. There are many nuances between the two. Everything is fine on the surface when admiration remains a pleasure among others, when social life and studies or work are not sacrificed, when we can bear the idea that the star disappoints or changes. Rather, warning signals appear when:
- celebrity becomes the main, even the only, source of emotional comfort;
- a large part of time, money or thoughts is monopolized by the idol;
- real relationships are reduced, for the benefit of the community of fans only;
- a feeling of emptiness, panic or despair arises as soon as we can no longer follow the news of the star.
These signs alone do not prove the existence of a
childhood traumanor even a psychological disorder. They can, however, report a psychological distress underlying, a need for belonging or emotional security that is poorly satisfied in real life.
