"Celebrity Obsession: A Budding Syndrome Amongst Adolescents"

Interest in the famous celebrities seems to be a human nature that goes as far back as recorded in the history. In ancient times, people created their Gods as very human-like beings, inclusive of all the righteous virtues as well as the character flaws. Humans are customarily fascinated by those they see as glamorous and charismatic. In the contemporary world, this phenomenon is being facilitated by the celebrities. Today, adolescents are exposed to an immense range of influential celebrities and their captivating way of life through television, current youth culture, print media and the Internet which make these celebrities a part and parcel of our daily lives. Celebrity obsession generally gets limited attention or ignored while studying factors influencing the phase of adolescence. This study aims at defining the concept of celebrity obsession and explaining it as one of the emerging phenomena among the adolescents by taking Albert Bandura’s “Social Learning Theory” as its theoretical background. Past literature and studies are examined, appropriate examples are cited and the role of these celebrities in shaping up lifestyle of adolescents is discussed in this study. This study also presents celebrity obsession in light of different type of fan following during adolescence.