Celebrity Worship, Materialism,

Compulsive Buying, and the Empty Self

Robert A. Reeves
Augusta State University

Gary A. Baker
Champlain College

Chris S. Truluck
Augusta State University

ABSTRACT

This study tested common predictions from the absorption-addiction model of celebrity worship and
the empty self theory. A sample of 171 university students completed a set of scales that included
celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying, as well as self-concept clarity, and several
other measures of well-being, such as boredom proneness, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. As
predicted, materialism and compulsive buying were significantly correlated with celebrity worship,
extending research on the empty self theory. Celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying
were significantly related to lower self-concept clarity and to lower levels of well-being, supporting
both absorption-addiction and empty self theories. The results provide clear evidence for
absorption-addiction and empty self theory predictions of a compromised identity. Implications for
future research were discussed. C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Celebrity and entertainment culture have become in-
creasingly prevalent in recent decades (Boorstin, 1982;
Gabler, 1998; Giles, 2000; Turner, 2010). For many peo-
ple, interest in celebrities goes beyond casual interest,
and even fascination, to obsession. Recently, empirical
research on the topic of celebrity worship has begun
to emerge (e.g., Maltby, Houran, Lange, Ashe, & Mc-
Cutcheon, 2002; Maltby, Houran, & McCutcheon, 2003;
McCutcheon, Houran, Maltby, & Ashe, 2004), and Mc-
Cutcheon, Lange, and Houran (2002) celebrity attitude
scale (CAS; see also Maltby et al., 2002) has been a cata-
lyst for this research. Celebrity worship has been linked
to a number of negative characteristics. For example,
high levels of celebrity worship have been related to
higher levels of social dysfunction, somatic symptoms,
anxiety, and depression (Maltby, McCutcheon, & Ashe,
2001). Additional studies have shown that celebrity
worship is associated with lower levels of religiosity
(Maltby et al., 2002) and certain cognitive deficits (e.g.,
lower levels of critical thinking, cognitive flexibility,
and creativity; McCutcheon, Ashe, Houran, & Maltby,
2003).
Although the CAS is a useful, overall measure of
celebrity worship, research has identified three factors
that assess progressively more pathological levels of
this trait (Maltby et al., 2002; McCutcheon, Lange, &
Houran, 2002). The lowest level of celebrity worship,
“entertainment-social,” refers to the value of celebrities
in enhancing social activities with friends or providing
entertainment. The second level, “intense-personal,” re-
flects more of a personal preoccupation with a favorite
celebrity and has mild obsessive-compulsive quali-
ties. Finally, the third and most pathological level,
“borderline-pathological,” defines more severe patho-
logical behavior of the type that indicates stronger
obsessive-compulsive tendencies that might lead in
some cases to actually stalking a celebrity or erotoma-
nia (Maltby, Houran, & McCutcheon, 2003).
McCutcheon, Lange, and Houran (2002) have devel-
oped an absorption-addiction model of celebrity worship
as an explanation of the different levels of celebrity
worship. According to this model, persons with a
poorly defined sense of identity attempt to gain ful-
fillment and a more complete identity by becoming ab-
sorbed with a celebrity. Absorption is defined as effort-
less, but full and complete devotion of attention to a
celebrity. Persons with higher levels of celebrity wor-
ship are also thought to have a weak boundary struc-
ture and may erroneously believe that they have a
special relationship or bond with a celebrity (Houran
et al., 2005). Related research has shown that patho-
logical preoccupation with public figures is related to
both absorption and dissociation (Sheridan, Maltby, &
Gillett, 2006).

Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 29(9): 674–679 (September 2012)

View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mar

C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20553

674
 The addictive aspects of celebrity worship are as-
sumed to occur as persons habituate over time to their
level of absorption and need even stronger evidence
of their belief in the perceived relationship with the
celebrity. This need can strengthen erroneous beliefs
about the relationship and promote even more ex-
treme dissociative behavior. In support of this model,
Maltby, McCutcheon, and Ashe (2001) found that the
entertainment-social subscale of the CAS was most
strongly related to social dysfunction and depression,
while the intense-personal subscale was related most
strongly to anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms.
The relationship between the intense-personal subscale
and somatic symptoms was thought to reflect the addic-
tive quality of the more severe level of celebrity worship.
A more recent study offers additional, more con-
clusive support for the absorption-addiction model.
Maltby, Houran, and McCutcheon (2003) found that
scores on the CAS subscales were each uniquely corre-
lated with a brief measure of one of Eysenck’s three
personality factors (Francis, Brown, & Philipchalk,
1992) in a pattern consistent with predictions from the
model. Specifically, the entertainment-social, intense-
personal, and borderline-pathological subscales were
most strongly and positively related to scores on
extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism, respec-
tively. Intense-personal celebrity worship has also been
found to be related to a neurotic coping style and poorer
mental health (Maltby et al., 2004).
The absorption-addiction model (McCutcheon,
Lange, & Houran, 2002) is similar in some ways to
Cushman’s (1990, 1995) empty self theory (also noted
by McCutcheon et al., 2003). Both address behaviors
that are attributed to consumer and entertainment cul-
ture and to influential marketing and advertising prac-
tices (see Kasser & Kanner, 2004). Both also describe
a model of the self that includes a deficient, or com-
promised identity. According to Cushman, the “empty
self” is a version of the self that emerged in the West in
the last half of the twentieth century due to a conflu-
ence of sociocultural, psychological, economic, and de-
mographic changes. Cushman notes that since the late
1800s there has been increasing emphasis on the devel-
opment of a secular personality, rather than one based
more on religious character. The contemporary empty
self is characterized by strivings for self-contained in-
dividualism, autonomy, self-sufficiency, and attempts
to master the environment for one’s own needs. This
self-contained individualism comes with a price, how-
ever, as the self is expected to be able to soothe itself
in order to be able to function autonomously. Unfortu-
nately, the empty self is plagued by a loss of a shared
sense of community and meaning, isolation, values con-
fusion, depression, low self-esteem, and poor relation-
ships with others, among other characteristics. This
creates a nonspecific, chronic emotional need (Cush-
man, 1990, 1995), which the person attempts to rem-
edy by the ceaseless acquisition and consumption of
nonessential goods. This need can also lead to drug
abuse, eating disorders, a series of unsuccessful roman-
CELEBRITY WORSHIP AND THE EMPTY SELF
Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
tic relationships, and even undue adulation of politi-
cians and celebrities, according to Cushman. Cushman
also suggested that the “lifestyle solution” offered by
advertising falsely promises that consuming certain
products and identifying with advertising models and
celebrities will create fulfillment by transforming the
person’s life.
Although Cushman (1990, 1995) offered no empiri-
cal support for his model, research on materialism and
compulsive buying is consistent with his views if one as-
sumes that the empty self is reflected in stronger mate-
rialistic and compulsive buying tendencies. High levels
of materialism and compulsive buying tendencies have
been related in many studies to a pattern of poor ad-
justment and well-being that fits the description of the
empty self, such as low self-esteem, depression, anxi-
ety, narcissism, and uncertainty and self-doubt, among
other negative outcomes (e.g., Chang & Arkin, 2002;
Dittmar, Long, & Bond, 2007; Faber, 2000; Kashdan &
Breen, 2007; Kasser & Ryan, 1993; O’Guinn & Faber,
1989; Richins & Dawson, 1992). We reasoned, there-
fore, that increasing levels of materialism and compul-
sive buying would characterize those who are suffering
from the empty self.
One purpose of the present study was to bridge the
research on the absorption-addiction model of celebrity
worship (McCutcheon, Lange, & Houran, 2002) with
that on Cushman’s (1990, 1995) empty self theory.
Both models describe an unhealthy version of the self
that seeks external gratification to remedy and soothe
internal deficiencies and both models posit celebrity
worship as a means to accomplish this. Following the
reasoning above in which higher levels of material-
ism and compulsive buying tendencies are assumed
to reflect empty self characteristics, we predicted that
higher materialism and compulsive buying tendencies
would be related to higher scores on celebrity wor-
ship. The relationships among these measures have
not been examined in previous research, to our knowl-
edge, so examining these relationships will allow a test
of an important aspect of Cushman’s theory, as well
as an extension of research on celebrity worship and
the absorption-addiction model (McCutcheon, Lange, &
Houran, 2002).
A second purpose of this study was designed to ex-
plore a neglected, but essential, component of both
the absorption-addiction model of celebrity worship
and Cushman’s empty self theory. The emerging re-
search on the addiction-absorption model has not yet
(to our knowledge) included measures that directly
assess deficiencies of the self-concept. Therefore, we
included measures of self-concept clarity (Campbell,
1990; Campbell et al., 1996a, 1996b) and self-esteem
(Rosenberg, 1965) to extend the research on celebrity
worship in this regard. Self-concept clarity measures
how clearly and confidently the self-concept is de-
fined, as well as the internal consistency and stabil-
ity of the self-concept. Low self-concept clarity has
been related to lower self-esteem and higher neuroti-
cism (Campbell, Assanand, & Di Paula, 2003; Campbell
675
et al., 1996a). We predicted from both the absorption-
addiction and empty self theories that higher levels of
celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying
would be related to lower self-concept clarity and lower
self-esteem.
Finally, we included two other measures, boredom
proneness (Farmer & Sundberg, 1986) and life satis-
faction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), that
we believe are relevant to both the absorption-addiction
and the empty self theories. Boredom proneness has
been related to a variety of negative outcomes, includ-
ing depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and lower life
satisfaction (Farmer & Sundberg, 1986). Life satisfac-
tion has, similarly, been associated with poor adjust-
ment and lower well-being (Diener et al., 1985). We
predicted that celebrity worship, materialism, and com-
pulsive buying tendency would be positively related to
boredom proneness and negatively related to life satis-
faction.
METHOD
Participants
Participants were 171 students (63 males, 106 females,
and 2 who did not reveal their sex) at a small southeast-
ern university who volunteered for a study on “attitudes
toward celebrities.” All students were treated in accor-
dance with appropriate ethical guidelines (American
Psychological Association, 1992).
Procedure and Measures
Each participant completed a packet of questionnaires
during their respective class periods. The packets con-
tained the following measures and all have been shown
to have adequate psychometric quality: the 23-item
version of the CAS (celebrity worship; Maltby et al.,
2002), materialism (Richins & Dawson, 1992), compul-
sive buying (Faber & O’Guinn, 1992), boredom prone-
ness (Farmer & Sundberg, 1986), self-concept clarity
(Campbell et al., 1996a, 1996b), life satisfaction (Di-
ener et al., 1985), and self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965).
After all data collection, participants were debriefed as
to the complete nature of the study.
RESULTS
All of the main scales appeared to have ade-
quate internal consistency, as seen in Table 1. The
borderline-pathological subscale of the celebrity wor-
ship scale, however, had poor reliability, suggest-
ing that correlations with that subscale be inter-
preted cautiously. The correlation matrix of all of
the scales used, shown in Table 2, reveals strong
support for our hypotheses. Celebrity worship, ma-
terialism, and compulsive buying tendency scores
676
were significantly correlated with each other and
with each of the other measures in the predicted
direction. It is important for interpretation to note
that the compulsive buying scale (Faber & O’Guinn,
1992) is scored so that lower scores on the scale re-
flect stronger compulsive buying tendencies. There-
fore, we predicted negative correlations between
compulsive buying scores and scores on the other
measures.
Consistent with Cushman’s empty self theory
(1990), higher levels of materialism and compulsive
buying tendencies were associated with significantly
higher scores on celebrity worship. Also as predicted,
materialism and compulsive buying tendency were sig-
nificantly correlated with lower self-concept clarity,
lower self-esteem, and greater boredom proneness. Ma-
terialism was also significantly related to lower life sat-
isfaction.
In support of the absorption-addiction model
(Maltby et al., 2002), higher celebrity worship scores
were significantly correlated with lower levels of self-
concept clarity and self-esteem. This result is the first,
to our knowledge, in which a deficit in self-concept
or identity has been directly linked to celebrity wor-
ship. The results also support predictions from the
absorption-addiction model in that celebrity worship
was significantly related to greater boredom proneness.
Separate correlation matrices for males (Table 3)
and females (Table 4) showed strong significant sup-
port for all predictions within the female group. In
fact, the results within the female group revealed
stronger support for the predictions than that observed
within the total sample. For males, however, support
for the predictions was less complete, possibly due
to low statistical power created by the smaller sam-
ple of males. Nonetheless, higher compulsive buying
tendency for males was related to higher scores on
celebrity worship and higher materialism was associ-
ated with lower self-concept clarity and higher boredom
proneness.
Notably, among the strongest correlations (Tables 2
& 4) were those observed between some of the measures
(e.g., materialism, compulsive buying tendency, and
boredom proneness) and the borderline-pathological
subscale of the celebrity worship scale. However, the
low internal consistency of the borderline-pathological
subscale (see Table 1) requires caution in interpreting
these correlations.
Comparisons of mean scores on each scale for males
and females revealed that males had higher mean
scores than did females on the celebrity worship scale
(M’s = 40.05 vs. 36.19, respectively, p < 0.04, one-tailed)
and on two of the three celebrity worship subscales—
entertainment social (M’s = 20.44 vs. 18.20, respec-
tively, p < 0.05, one-tailed) and borderline pathological
(M’s = 4.30 vs. 3.73, respectively, p < 0.03). Females,
however, had higher mean scores than did males on
self-concept clarity (M’s = 42.11 vs. 39.35, respectively,
p < 0.04, one-tailed) and compulsive buying tendency
(M’s = 0.85 vs. 1.42, respectively, p < 0.02, one-tailed;
REEVES ET AL.
Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
Table 1. Internal Consistency and Descriptive Statistics of Measures.
Measure Cronbach’s α N M SD

1. Celebrity worship 0.92 171 37.46 13.24

2. Materialism 0.84 171 52.36 11.1
3. Compulsive buying 0.65 171 1.04 1.51
4. Self-concept clarity 0.86 171 41.09 9.29
5. Self-esteem 0.85 167 34.53 5.34
6. Boredom proneness 0.74 167 10.91 4.64
7. Life satisfaction 0.82 170 15.92 6.01
8. Entertain-social subscale 0.89 171 18.93 7.58
9. Intense-personal subscale 0.81 171 12.80 4.76
10. Borderline-path. Subscale 0.46 171 3.93 1.51

Table 2. Correlation Matrix of Measures for Total Sample.

Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Celebrity worship –
2. Materialism 0.26∗ –
3. Compulsive buying − 0.18∗∗ − 0.29∗ –
4. Self-concept clarity − 0.25∗ − 0.28∗ 0.17∗∗ –
5. Self-esteem − 0.19∗∗ − 0.17∗∗ 0.15∗∗ 0.47∗ –
6. Boredom proneness 0.24∗ 0.24∗ − 0.20∗ − 0.47∗ − 0.36∗ –
7. Life satisfaction − 0.13∗∗∗ − 0.21∗ 0.12 0.32∗ 0.44∗ − 0.28∗ –
8. Entertain-social subscale 0.96∗ 0.23∗ − 0.18∗∗ − 0.23∗ − 0.16∗∗ 0.21∗ − 0.11 –
9. Intense-personal subscale 0.89∗ 0.21∗ − 0.09 − 0.22∗ − 0.17∗∗ 0.20∗ − 0.13∗∗∗ 0.74∗ –
10. Borderline-path. Subscale 0.71∗ 0.36∗ − 0.26∗ − 0.25∗ − 0.13∗∗∗ 0.38∗ − 0.11 0.63∗ 0.55∗ –
Note: Ns range from 167 to 171. Low scores on compulsive buying indicate stronger compulsive buying tendencies. High scores on all other scales
reflect stronger respective tendencies.
∗
p < 0.01, ∗∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗∗ p < 0.05 (one-tailed).

recall that lower scores on compulsive buying reflect a DISCUSSION

stronger tendency).
We also ran several stepwise regressions to examine
the relative strength of predictors of celebrity worship.
For the total sample, materialism (β = 0.20, p < 0.009)
and boredom proneness (β = 0.20, p < 0.01) emerged
as significant predictors. For females, materialism (β =
0.36, p < 0.01) and self-esteem (β = −0.27, p < 0.01)
were the significant predictors.
The results support predictions from both the
absorption-addiction model of celebrity worship
(Maltby et al., 2002) and the empty self theory (Cush-
man, 1990, 1995) in that both theories explain celebrity
worship in terms of deficits in self-concept, poor ad-
justment, and low levels of well-being. Research on
the absorption-addiction model was extended with the

Table 3. Correlation Matrix for Male Participants.

Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Celebrity worship –
2. Materialism 0.06 –
3. Compulsive buying − 0.24∗∗∗ − 0.30∗∗ –
4. Self-concept clarity − 0.15 − 0.29∗∗ 0.11 –
5. Self-esteem − 0.03 − 0.07 − 0.02 0.44∗ –
6. Boredom proneness 0.12 0.24∗∗∗ − 0.14 − 0.48∗ − 0.33∗ –
7. Life satisfaction 0.08 − 0.07 − 0.02 0.23∗∗∗ 0.35∗ − 0.24∗∗∗ –
8. Entertain-social subscale 0.97∗ − 0.01 − 0.22∗∗∗ − 0.12 0.01 0.06 0.11 –
9. Intense-personal subscale 0.89∗ 0.07 − 0.18 − 0.12 − 0.05 0.10 0.03 0.76∗ –
10. Borderline-path. Subscale 0.64∗ 0.31∗∗ − 0.29∗∗ − 0.26∗∗ − 0.09 0.42∗ − 0.01 0.59∗ 0.44∗ –
Note: N = 63. Low scores on compulsive buying indicate stronger compulsive buying tendencies. High scores on all other scales reflect stronger
respective tendencies.
∗
p < 0.01, ∗∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗∗ p < 0.05 (one-tailed).

CELEBRITY WORSHIP AND THE EMPTY SELF 677

Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
Table 4. Correlation Matrix for Female Participants.
Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Celebrity worship –
2. Materialism 0.41∗ –
3. Compulsive buying − 0.24∗∗ − 0.29∗ –
4. Self-concept clarity − 0.31∗ − 0.24∗∗ 0.24∗∗ –
5. Self-esteem − 0.33∗ − 0.19∗∗∗ 0.24∗∗ 0.50∗ –
6. Boredom proneness 0.30∗ 0.20∗∗ − 0.33∗ − 0.44∗ − 0.38∗ –
7. Life satisfaction − 0.29∗ − 0.26∗ 0.19∗∗ 0.36∗ 0.49∗ − 0.26∗ –
8. Entertain-social subscale 0.95∗ 0.41∗ − 0.24∗∗ − 0.29∗ − 0.32∗ 0.28∗ − 0.29∗ –
9. Intense-personal subscale 0.88∗ 0.31∗ − 0.10 − 0.28∗ − 0.27∗ 0.26∗ − 0.26∗ 0.71∗ –
10. Borderline-path. Subscale 0.74∗ 0.41∗ − 0.34∗ − 0.21∗ − 0.17∗∗∗ 0.32∗ − 0.18∗∗∗ 0.64∗ 0.62∗ –
Note: Ns range from 100 to 106. Low scores on compulsive buying indicate stronger compulsive buying tendencies. High scores on all other scales
reflect stronger respective tendencies.
∗
p < 0.01, ∗∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗∗ p < 0.05 (one-tailed).

observation of relationships between low self-concept
clarity, low self-esteem, and celebrity worship. The re-
sults also extended the empty self theory via the rela-
tionship between materialism, compulsive buying ten-
dency, and celebrity worship.
Altogether, these results suggest that those who are
high in celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive
buying are lacking in internal resources such as a clear
sense of self and a positive self-regard. Such people
appear to need external stimulation, possibly as an es-
cape from aversive consequences of introspection, and
turn to external, yet ineffectual, sources of gratification,
such as celebrity worship and materialistic pursuits,
in an attempt to compensate for their deficiencies. At-
tachments to celebrities (Giles & Maltby, 2004; Thomp-
son, 2006), including those used in promotional efforts,
have been related to need satisfaction, but some such
attachments may contain an undesirable quality. Mild
degrees of celebrity worship are considered normal and
can enhance social interaction and enjoyment of enter-
tainment, but deeper levels appear to be pathological
(De Backer, Nelissen, Vyncke, Braeckman, & McAn-
drew, 2007; McCutcheon, Lange, & Houran, 2002). Fu-
ture research should include additional variables to
more carefully map degrees of celebrity worship to as-
sess both positive and negative, or pathological, aspects
of relationships with celebrities.
REFERENCES
American Psychological Association (1992). Ethical principles
of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psycholo-
gist, 47, 1597–1611.
Boorstin, D. J. (1982). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in
America. New York: Atheneum.
Campbell, J. D. (1990). Self-esteem and clarity of the self-
concept. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59,
538–549.
Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M.,
Lavallee, L. F., & Lehman, D. R. (1996a). Self-concept
clarity: Measurement, personality correlates, and cultural
boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
70, 141–156.
Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M.,
Lavallee, L. F., & Lehman, D. R. (1996b). Self-concept
clarity: Measurement, personality correlates, and cultural
boundaries: Correction. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 70, 1114.
Campbell, J. D., Assanand, S., & Di Paula, A. (2003). The
structure of the self-concept and its relation to psychological
adjustment. Journal of Personality, 71, 115–140.
Chang, L., & Arkin, R.M. (2002). Materialism as an attempt to
cope with uncertainty. Psychology & Marketing, 19, 389–
406.
Cushman, P. (1990). Why the self is empty: Toward a his-
torically situated psychology. American Psychologist, 45,
599–611.
Cushman, P. (1995). Constructing the self, constructing Amer-
ica: A cultural history of psychotherapy. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, Inc.
De Backer, C. J., Nelissen, M., Vyncke, P., Braeckman, J.,
& McAndrew, F. T. (2007). Celebrities: From teachers to
friends. Human Nature, 18, 4, 334–354.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. T., & Griffin, S. (1985).
The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality As-
sessment, 49, 71–75.
Dittmar, H., Long, K., & Bond, R. (2007). When a better self
is just a click away: Associations between materialistic val-
ues, emotional and identity-related buying motives, and
compulsive buying tendency online. Journal of Social and
Clinical Psychology, 26, 334–361.
Faber, R. J. (2000). A systematic investigation into compulsive
buying. In A. L. Benson (Ed.), I shop, therefore I am: Com-
pulsive buying and the search for self (pp. 27–53). North-
vale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc.
Faber, R. J., & O’Guinn, T. C. (1992). A clinical screener
for compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 19,
459–469.
Farmer, R., & Sundberg, N.D. (1986). Boredom proneness: The
development and correlates of a new scale. Journal of Per-
sonality Assessment, 50, 4–17.
Francis, L.J., Brown, L.B., & Philipchalk, R. (1992). The devel-
opment of an Abbreviated Form of the Revised Eysenck Per-
sonality Questionnaire (Epqr-A)—Its use among students
in England, Canada, the USA and Australia. Personality of
Individual Differences, 13, 443–449.
Gabler, N. (1998). Life the movie: How entertainment con-
quered reality. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Giles, D. C. (2000). Illusions of immortality: A psychology of
fame and celebrity. London: MacMillan.

678 REEVES ET AL.

Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
Giles, D. C., & Maltby, J. (2004). The role of media figures
in adolescent development: Relations between autonomy,
attachment, and interest in celebrities. Personality and In-
dividual Differences, 36, 813–822.
Houran J., Navik, S., & Zerrusen, K. (2005). Boundary func-
tioning in celebrity worshippers. Personality and Individ-
ual Differences, 38, 237–248.
Kashdan, T. B., & Breen, W. E. (2007). Materialism and di-
minished well-being: Experiential avoidance as a mediat-
ing mechanism. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology,
26, 521–539.
Kasser, T., & Kanner, A. D. (Eds.). (2004). Psychology and
consumer culture: The struggle for a good life in a mate-
rialistic world. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American
dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life as-
piration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65,
410–422.
Maltby, J., McCutcheon, L.E., Ashe, D.D., & Houran, J. (2001).
The self-reported psychological well-being of celebrity wor-
shippers. North American Journal of Psychology, 3, 441–
452.
Maltby, J., Houran, J., Lange, R., Ashe, D. D., & McCutcheon,
L. E. (2002). Thou shalt worship no other gods—Unless they
are celebrities: The relationship between celebrity worship
and religious orientation. Personality of Individual Differ-
ences, 32, 1157–1172.
Maltby, J., Houran, J., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2003). A Clinical
interpretation of attitudes and behaviors associated with
celebrity worship. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Dis-
ease, 191, 25–29.
Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L. E., Gillett, R., Houran,
J., & Ashe, D. D. (2004). Personality and coping: A context
for examining celebrity worship and mental health. British
Journal of Psychology, 95, 411–428.
CELEBRITY WORSHIP AND THE EMPTY SELF
Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
McCutcheon, L.E., Lange, R., & Houran, J. (2002). Concep-
tualization and measurement of celebrity worship. British
Journal of Psychology, 93, 67–87.
McCutcheon, L.E., Ashe, D.D., Houran, J., Maltby, J. (2003).
A cognitive profile of individuals who tend to wor-
ship celebrities. The Journal of Psychology, 137, 309–
322.
McCutcheon, L. E., Houran, J., Maltby, J., & Ashe, D. (2004).
Celebrity worshippers: Inside the minds of stargazers.
Frederick, MD: PublishAmerica.
O’Guinn, T. C., & Faber, R. J. (1989). Compulsive buying:
A phenomenological exploration. Journal of Consumer Re-
search, 16, 147–157.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orien-
tation for materialism and its measurement: Scale devel-
opment and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19,
303–316.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Sheridan, L., Maltby, J., & Gillett, R. (2006). Pathological pub-
lic figure preoccupation: Its relationship with dissociation
and absorption. Personality and Individual Differences, 41,
525–535.
Thompson, M. (2006). Human brands: Investigating an-
tecedents to consumers’ stronger attachments to celebri-
ties. Journal of Marketing, 17, 104–119.
Turner, G. (2010). Approaching celebrity studies. Celebrity
Studies, 1, 11–20.
We would like to thank Lynn McCutcheon for comments on an
earlier draft of this paper.
Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to:
Robert A. Reeves, Department of Psychology, Augusta State
University, Augusta, Georgia 30904 (rreeves@aug.edu).
679