The Relationship Between Celebrity Worship and Intimate Relationship Expectations in Adolescents

Xiaorui Jia

doi:10.54254/2753-7048/2025.NS27398

Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public MediaOpen access

The Relationship Between Celebrity Worship and Intimate Relationship Expectations in Adolescents

Research Article

Open Access

The Relationship Between Celebrity Worship and Intimate Relationship Expectations in Adolescents

Xiaorui Jia ^1*

¹ Beijing Haidian International School

^*Corresponding author: jiaxiaorui225@163.com

Published on 2 October 2025

LNEP Vol.123

ISSN (Print): 2753-7056

ISSN (Online): 2753-7048

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-401-4

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-402-1

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Abstract

This study discusses the relationship between celebrity worship and adolescents' expectations of romantic relationships. Through a questionnaire survey of 84 participants aged 14 to 35, the research found that there is a significant positive correlation between the degree of celebrity worship and idealized romantic expectations (r = 0.39, p <0.001). Further analysis showed that multiple subdimensions of celebrity worship (such as behavioral frequency, idol knowledge, emotional projection, relationship fantasy, and idol identification) were all related to expectations of romantic relationships. However, due to the high correlation among these dimensions, the independent predictive effect of a single dimension could not be identified. In addition, the results also indicated that females were more active in idol-related behaviors than males. Overall, this study reveals that immersive celebrity worship may reinforce adolescents' idealized expectations of love and have a potential impact on the establishment of their real-life intimate relationships.

Keywords:

Celebrity Worship, Adolescents, Romantic Relationship Expectations, Emotional Projection

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References

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References

[1]. Giles, D. C. (2002). Parasocial interaction: A review of the literature and a model for future research. Media Psychology, 4(3), 279–305. https: //doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0403_04

[4]. Gleason, T. R., Theran, S. A., & Newberg, E. M. (2017). Parasocial Interactions and Relationships in Early Adolescence. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 255. https: //doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00255

[5]. McCutcheon, L. E., Maltby, J., Houran, J., & Ashe, D. D. (2004). Celebrity worshippers: Inside the minds of stargazers. Baltimore: PublishAmerica.

Cite this article

Jia,X. (2025). The Relationship Between Celebrity Worship and Intimate Relationship Expectations in Adolescents. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,123,19-30.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICILLP 2025 Symposium: Psychological Perspectives on Teacher-Student Relationships in Educational Contexts

ISBN: 978-1-80590-401-4(Print) / 978-1-80590-402-1(Online)

Editor: Renuka Thakore, Abdullah Laghari

Conference website: https://2025.icillp.org/Nawabshah.html

Conference date: 17 October 2025

Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media

Volume number: Vol.123

ISSN: 2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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