Celebrity worship in the United Arab Emirates: An examination of its association with problematic internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire for fame.

Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between obsessive fascination with celebrities and an increased frequency of mental health difficulties. The present study examined the association of celebrity worship with desire for fame, problematic use of the Internet, maladaptive daydreaming, and self-efficacy. A sample of 316 participants resident in the United Arab Emirates (M_age = 21.7, SD = 11.7) completed the Celebrity Attitude Scale and assessments of the 4 additional variables. Results indicated that celebrity worship was highly prevalent in this sample, particularly the pathological variety, and participants expressed a high degree of emotional connectedness with their favorite celebrity. Celebrity worship was consistently correlated with, and predictive of, an increased desire for fame, increasingly compulsive use of the Internet, and a proclivity for maladaptive daydreaming. These results held following both correlational and regression analyses and were the case across the 3 dimensions of the Celebrity Attitude Scale. Self-efficacy, however, appeared to be unrelated to celebrity worship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)