Understanding idol worshipping attitudes in adolescence

Abstract

Objectives: This study tried to understand idol worshipping attitudes in adolescence. In particular, it examined the relationship between idol worshipping attitudes and gender, age, fan club membership, and academic achievement.

Methods: Participants were Hong Kong secondary school Form 1 to Form 7 students, aging from 11 to 21 years old. Four hundred and eighty-seven participants were randomly selected from four secondary schools (Band 1 and Band 5). They completed questionnaires that assess their attitudes on idol worshipping and their demographic information.

Results: The results showed that gender and academic achievement have no significant effect on idolatry attitudes in adolescence, whereas age showed a slight significant effect. Fan club membership yielded most significant effects, thus it is a useful measure of idolatry involvement. In addition, significant positive correlations were found between various categories of variables on idol worshipping attitudes. Also, half of the top 10 favorite idols were local Chinese pop singers. Adolescents were more attached to idealism-romanticism-absolutism oriented celebrities.

Discussion: Fan club membership is a crucial factor affecting idol worshipping attitudes in adolescence, and this effect is assumed to be due to peer pressure. Given the popularity of idolatry behavior, members of a group are motivated to adhere to what is perceived to be the group norm to avoid peer rejection.