Tilley 1

Adrian Tilley
Dr. Cassel
Eng 1201
April 12, 2020

Adolescents Reexplored

In a world, where being different can make you billions of dollars. It is more likely that

most of the youth is being molded by a celebrity influencer. The main cause of our youth

influence is mainstream media and evolution. A mix of evolution and media censorship tells us

that we need to look and act a certain way. How do celebrities and the media influence our teen

psychologically? 

“Adolescence is a period of rapid change. This change is dramatically crystallized in the

flood of hormonal activity and rapid physiological development that constitutes puberty”

(Susman et al. 2003). When teens are going through these great changes, they are approached by

complications in their psychological and emotional growth. (see figure 1) Which leaves them

with big gaps trying to form their own identity separate from their parents. Teenagers grow up to

adult size in their early years and engage in actions that put them in risky situations. With the

growth that social media has made in the past couple decades, it has contributed to this behavior.
 Tilley 2

Figure 1. “To explain complications in growth” UNICEFInnocenti. “The Adolescent Brain: A

Second Window of Opportunity.” UNICEF, www.unicef-irc.org/article/1750-the-adolescent-
brain-a-second-window-of-opportunity.html.

When teenagers are growing up, they often try to find themselves. It is part of evolution

that they must learn to do some things on our own. Teens are in their rebellion phase around the

ages of 13 through 18. When they get into an emotional divide with their parents. They

find influences through a Hero of some sort. That usually involves a celebrity, science fiction

character or other entities involving the media. Celebrities have a huge impact on how teens view

themselves. People have underestimated how much media influencers impact teens attitude and

behavior.
 Tilley 3

Most successful people we see on television have a perfect figure and happy successful

friends around them. Famous singers, actors, and other celebrities can also provide unhealthy

examples. We can only imagine the psychological effects this has on teens and young adults.

Social media comes with positive effects like transparency and learning. We must be aware that

transparency can also come with negative effects like being more exposed to substance abuse,

sexuality and violence. Celebrity influence on body image and substance use is often detrimental

to teen mental health. Celebrities endorse products and tell us what we should do to be more like

them. This leaves the youth thinking that they must look or act a certain way to be normal.

With the use of social media, relationships with adolescents are now more complicated. It

has caused rifts between parents and teens. Experts say “that even the most withdrawn teens

scrutinize their parents for cues on how to act. So, watch your behavior; don't gossip with your

friends in front of the kids and downplay popularity as a lifetime goal” (Deveny 2007.) The

general consensus has long been that adolescents engage in fewer problem behaviors when their

parents keep close track of what they do and with whom they associate, in part because

monitoring constrains opportunities to engage in such behaviors and in part because it helps to

develop adolescent self-control (Browning et al. 2005, Hay 2006). Essentially all kids need to

feel supported and various types of constant communication. As they become teens, they start to

form their identities and often need validation. There is no better way for a teenager to find

themselves than through celebrities. Celebrities are the most exposed when it comes to living

their daily lives.

 Tilley 4

Naturally celebrities flourish when it comes to be a role model for teens. They are known

to thrive in the spotlight. When you look at a celebrity, you see someone who is in good shape.

In our perspective they are the epitome of success. They are the frontrunners for how to dress or

what to eat. There is not too much that a celebrity does that we do not know about. To further

improve a celebrity image, they have a team of people to help them. Everything that we see in a

celebrity, how they dress, what they say is all thought about and is meant to portray a certain

image. Media figures with high influences on the public image are usually sponsored and are

paid to market certain products.

We may be startled by the Glam and the glory of being a celebrity. Celebrities have

struggled and there are various accounts where celebrities have come clean about their mental

issues. Taylor Swift talked about having an eating disorder. Demi Lovato come clean about

having bipolar disorder. Teenagers can learn a lot from celebrities because they have a platform

that can be heard globally. This is also a double-edged sword because some celebrities are over

exposed. The young girls begin to mimic the things they see. In this researched scholarly journal,

Newsweek took a pole that said 77% of Americans believe that Hilton, Spears, and Lohan have

way too much influence on young girls.(Deveny, 2011) When a young person follows celebrities

as a role model, they tend to mimic the not so good things of celebrities.

The mishaps of celebrities are talked about every day. With teenagers idolizing social

media figures they tend to follow some of these not so likeable habits. In this social media age,

celebrities are more underdressed and talk about drug use and mental health. With that being

said, you are going to have teenagers do the same things they hear in their favorite songs. Dr
 Tilley 5

James Bennett said “many intelligent young people have a desire to learn about celebrities' lives,

which can help them develop informed opinions on topical debates such as the role of the media

and the importance of good role models.” (see figure 2)

Figure 2. “Figure illustrating celebrity role models to teenagers” Holley, Eileen. “Celebrities',
Athletes' Responsibilities as Role Models.” The Daily Cougar, 15 Oct. 2014,
thedailycougar.com/2014/10/16/celebrities-athletes-responsibilities-role-models/.

When you are a teenager, you often talk to your friends about everything. How you feel

about things going on in the world. They often reciprocate the information with their friends as

well. Majority of a teenager's time, they will constantly analyze media figures to self-check

interest. Since celebrities are sponsored to advertise themselves and their products. It goes hand

and hand because media influencers are the front lines of the new norms formed on social media

outlets. During this social media era, it is a lot easier for teens to disclose personal information
 Tilley 6

online. For example, the stimulation hypothesis (McKenna & Bargh, 2000) describes how

adolescents in general have an easier time self-disclosing in online versus face-to-face

communication, which is a less threatening format in which adolescents can share more freely.

Theorist has said that in addition to family and peers that adolescents form secondary

attachments to popular media figures to help them transition to adulthood. It is believed that the

ecological context of adolescents that study in neighborhood effects on a national level.

Browning and associates (2005) reported that adolescents in neighborhoods of concentrated

poverty experienced sexual onset earlier than others but that higher neighborhood collective

efficacy delayed sexual onset, at least among adolescents experiencing lower levels of parental

monitoring. 

Such knowledge does prove valuable to understand conditions that lead adolescents and

young adults to adopt aspects of celebrities as their own. Dr Susan D. Boon, at University of

Calgary has done a study on young adults and celebrities and their collusion on their sense of

self-worth. In adolescence, that individual can adequately assess the extent to which celebrities

have shaped who he or she is. According to Caughey’s work teens are in imaginary relationships

with their idols. Adolescents form a bond that gives them a sense of worth that helps them form

an identity.  They form themselves in the self-image of their idol. This goes on to their physical

appearance abilities, values and behaviors to form themselves. 

Teen psychology is about a sense of community that can be shared with their peers.

Being young and going through those changes brings about a sense of vulnerability. That is what
 Tilley 7

being that age consists of and the more support you can get as a teen the more comfortable it

feels. That alone would cause a lot of teens to cling on to some type of social media figure.

Especially during this social media age, everything is becoming more open and vulnerable

because of the vast knowledge gained through the internet. 

In the past, radio and television had a censor of what was being shown. Things were more

traditional in the past. In better terms, things where more formal and communication was very

different. Most communication was peer to peer or mostly what you heard on the radio or TV.

“Computers initially were developed for adults, adolescents have fully embraced these

technologies for their own social purposes and typically are the family experts on how to use

electronic media and social networking sites”(Shapiro,2014) On average, 11–18 year-olds spend

over 11 hours per day exposed to electronic media (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). Late

adolescents and emerging adults average approximately 30 minutes per day just on Facebook

alone.

Internet celebrity has become a cultural phenomenon that captivates, especially the

younger generations struggling for being “liked” or “shared” in the “connected” society. They

are the witnesses to and the victims of the “bandwagon effect” (Cohan, 2001) Because of the

social media age everything is becoming more prominently available. a series of studies revealed

that Americans are more lonely, isolated, and diffident than they were in the 1960s(Sander and

Putnam (2010) This is definitely a contribution on why our teens are very connected to

celebrities and their mannerisms. The cause and effect of the new age is hindered by mass

technological explosion. As technology got better access to more information became available.
 Tilley 8

When technology came aboard it gave average household access to some of the most famous

celebrities across the world.

“Celebrities are conceptualized as one of the means through which capitalism achieves its

ends of subduing and exploiting the masses. They express an ideology of heroic individualism,

upward mobility and choice in social conditions wherein standardization, monotony and routine

prevail.”(Rojek, 2001) The new style of Television is surely an appeal to young adults. There is

an abundance of shows that keep the youth’s chemical imbalance flowing. Issues of

contemporary young-adulthood relevant to its core audience, such as sex, prejudice, religion,

abortion, illness, sexuality, AIDS, death, politics, and substance abuse, but later garnered a

reputation as a showcase for immaturity and irresponsible behavior of the declining morals of

contemporary youth. Reality tv is a growing trend in television where they are doing social

experiments to appeal to the masses. This new form of entertainment is drawing people by the

millions. In fact, just about every television station is changing their sense of direction to reach

the younger generation.

Celebrity status is believed to be so powerful that celebrities can cash in on their success.

(Bell, 2010, Marshall, 1997),Celebrities are the lead and fall guy for brands and endorsements.

They are seen and glorified throughout the country. Interactions and contacts with celebrities

have become occasionally rare and the fans crave such experiences. Celebrities, for instance,

appear on a variety of marketing campaigns for commercial purposes; the celebrities gain

financial benefits from their appearances such as product and service endorsement. (Milner,

2010) The new exchange of recent times gives celebrities even more power in society.  Social
 Tilley 9

Theory is when past actions shape subsequent behavior. When celebrities took action to better

their situation and the marketers shifted to take advantage of capitalism. Celebrities were on the

forefront of shifting social change. (see figure 3)

Figure 3. With social exchange theory it explains Milner Jrs the distinction between two status
systems might be haphazardly too rigid, for it is plausible that the two systems are compatible,
comparable, complementary, and even convertible with social transfer functions fi (i = 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5) as depicted 
 Tilley 10

Everyone has been through the teenage phase. Adults must try to understand teens from a

different perspective. Every teenager must feel like they are misunderstood. In an adult

perspective, teens just need to follow their lead. We must understand that everyone feels pain

and we need to check on troubled teens. It feels like as a society we are quick to punish troubled

teens. Most of the time in troubled teens, there is a troubled situation around him. Most of the

time our children manifest what they see going on around them. The more time we spend with

our adolescents as parents, the more we know what's going on with them. Establishing a

relationship with your teen is the first step in the right direction. That will manifest an open

relation to talk about celebrities or any other things that are currently bothering them.

When experts did a study on celebrity influence on teens the results were inconclusive.

When it comes to teen psychology you must look at the situation in another perspective. Social

theory is the cause of the new age of teens and what influences them. We must know that we all

were teens at one point of our lives and one day this too shall pass.
 Tilley 11

Work Cited

"Celebrity Culture." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context:
Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/PC3010999095/OVIC?
u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=85dd843d. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.

“The Influence Of Celeb Affect Teen Self Esteem.” Ignite Teen Treatment, 16 July 2019,
igniteteentreatment.com/how-does-the-influence-of-celebrities-affect-teen-self-esteem/.

Boon, SD, and CD Lomore. “Admirer-Celebrity Relationships among Young Adults. Explaining
Perceptions of Celebrity Influence on Identity.” Human Communication Research, vol. 27,
no. 3, July 2001. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2001.tb00788.x.

Crosnoe, Robert, and Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson. “Research on Adolescence in the Twenty-
First Century.” Annual review of sociology vol. 37 (2011): 439-460. doi:10.1146/annurev-
soc-081309-150008

Deveny, Kathleen. "Celebrities Are Poor Role Models for Young People." Celebrity Culture,
edited by Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context:
Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010738214/OVIC?
u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=a214

Forde, Kaelyn. “By Sharing Their Own Struggles, Celebs Help Teens Tear Down Mental Health
Stigma.” OZY, 9 Jan. 2020, www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/by-sharing-their-own-
struggles-celebs-help-teens-tear-down-mental-health-stigma/253556/.

Hoffman, S.J., Mansoor, Y., Natt, N. et al. Celebrities’ impact on health-related knowledge,
attitudes, behaviors, and status outcomes: protocol for a systematic review, meta-analysis,
and meta-regression analysis. Syst Rev 6, 13 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-016-
0395-1

Juntiwasarakij, Suwan. “Framing Emerging Behaviors Influenced by Internet Celebrity.”

Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, No Longer Published by Elsevier, 24 July 2018,
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452315118303436.

Monroe, Jamison. “How Celebrities Influence Teens and Why It Matters.” Newport Academy,
Newport Academy, 29 Aug. 2018, www.newportacademy.com/resources/empowering-
teens/celebrities-influence/.

Spies Shapiro, Lauren A, and Gayla Margolin. “Growing up wired: social networking sites and
adolescent psychosocial development.” Clinical child and family psychology review vol.
17,1 (2014): 1-18. doi:10.1007/s10567-013-0135-1
 Tilley 12

University of Royal Holloway London. "Teenagers learn about modern life through celebrity
culture, says academic." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 June 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140617092907.htm>.