The interpersonal beginnings of fandom: The relation between attachment style, trust, and the admiration of celebrities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between people's attraction to celebrities and their interpersonal trust and attachment style. Previous research suggests that individuals with different attachment styles are differentially attracted to celebrities. We predicted that securely attached participants who mistrust, rather than trust, others tend to have higher levels of benign celebrity attraction. We found only partial support for our hypothesis. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between different attachment styles on either of the two measures of celebrity admiration. These findings contribute to the literature on trust and celebrity worship by providing new information about how different attachment styles may (or may not) affect the relationships that people have with their favorite celebrity.

Social motives of university students in seven countries: Measurement development and validation

“…Trust also correlated positively with attachment anxiety in five countries and negatively with attachment avoidance, although only in the United States and Australia. The results were consistent with attachment theory and our conceptualization of the motive to trust as distinct from dyadic trust (Collisson et al., 2018). There was also a weak link between Trust and independent SC, as expected, though only in three countries, namely, the United States, China, and Malaysia, which was consistent with Takemura et al.…”

“…As exploratory hypotheses, we also posited a positive link between attachment anxiety and the Understand motive (H 6b ), the Control motive (H 6c ), and the Esteem motive (H 6d ). Trust is also a crucial component of attachment security (L. Campbell & Stanton, 2019), and Collisson et al., (2018) reported that those with anxious and avoidant dispositions tend to display lower dyadic trust ( r = −.30 and −.59, respectively; Collisson et al., 2018). However, given high security striving, a stronger anxious disposition should be associated with a stronger Trust motive (H 6e ) despite lower actual trust.…”

Escapism and motivation: Understanding K-pop fans well-being and identity

“…Seoulbeats (2012) noted that South Korea is one of the few countries where the use of celebrities in commercials surpasses 50% and the advertisement industry is flooded with idols. This leads to fans who are intensely and neurotically involved with their favourite celebrity (Collisson, Browne, McCutcheon, Britt, & Browne, 2018). They suggest that being a fan is like being in a recognized religion, it helps fan having a higher level of subjective well-being.…”

A new avenue to reach out for the stars: The association of celebrity worship with problematic and nonproblematic social media use.

“…However, nearly 2 decades of research on celebrity worship has provided compelling evidence for the negative psychological correlates of high levels of celebrity worship (see Brooks, 2018 for a review). For instance, celebrity worship has been associated with poor mental health (Maltby, McCutcheon, Ashe, & Houran, 2001), lower self-esteem (Reeves, Baker, & Truluck, 2012), social and cognitive deficits (Cheung & Yue, 2011; Collisson, Browne, McCutcheon, Britt, & Browne, 2018; McCutcheon, Ashe, Houran, & Maltby, 2003; Scharf & Levy, 2015), and compulsive behaviors (Reeves et al, 2012; Zsila, McCutcheon, & Demetrovics, 2018). Recently, some specific social media use characteristics (e.g., frequency of visiting the favorite celebrity’s page, the number of likes) have also been associated with high levels of celebrity worship (Reeves, Lemons, Clements, Gountas, & Gountas, 2013).…”

“…Previous studies have also revealed that individuals exhibiting an obsessive fascination with a celebrity have weak interpersonal skills (Houran et al, 2005;McCutcheon et al, 2003) that are reflected in insecure attachment to family members (Scharf & Levy, 2015) and a best friend (Cheung & Yue, 2011), and the lack of trust in others (Collisson et al, 2018). Furthermore, it was found that individuals with a high level of celebrity worship are less likely to prefer solitude (McCutcheon, Aruguete, Scott, & Von-Waldner, 2004) and have a stronger need to belong (Greenwood & This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”