Abstract:
Over the past two decades, social media use has become increasingly popular including its use by celebrities. Related to this, research has indicated that a minority of individuals may develop a psy- chological dependence on celebrities that can lead to obsessions and diminished functioning. Alt- hough research has also shown that worshipping celebrities can have positive consequences, re- search has also shown that there is an association between the pathological aspects of celebrity wor- ship and poor mental health such as high anxiety, increased depression, high stress levels and poor body image. Moreover, there appears to be evidence that pathological celebrity worship has in- creased over the past two decades and one of the primary reasons for this may be increased social media use by both celebrities and their fans.
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