The Taylor Swift obsession: Psychologist weighs in on why fans worship celebrities
Fox News
While Taylor Swift rocks out on her global tour, "Swifties" are louder, prouder and more obsessed than ever. A psychologist weighs in on what happens in the brain when fans love a celebrity.
But the fandom extends far past Swift, since celebrity infatuation has spanned generations including the passion and mania for The Beatles to the admiration of Harry Styles. "People essentially value and reinforce these celebrities in the way that teenagers wish people would see them." One Direction fan Noelle Grassel cries during Niall Horan's Flicker World Tour at Long Island's Jones Beach Theater in 2018. (Noelle Grassel) Emily Garten of Long Island, New York, reacts to seeing Taylor Swift on stage during the Eras Tour on May 28, 2023. (Sarah Garten) Taylor Swift acknowledges the crowd at her Atlanta, Georgia, show on April 30, 2023. (Kim Massa) Dopamine can spark obsessive attachments to celebrities, said one New York City-based psychologist. (Brittany Kasko/Fox News Digital) "They may start engaging in critical comparisons where they're constantly looking to that person to find the faults in themselves." Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle writer for Fox News Digital.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, NYU Langone psychologist Dr. Yamalis Diaz explained what occurs in the human brain when someone adores a celebrity.