Early Maladaptive Schemas and Celebrity Worship: The Mediating Role of Sense of Coherence and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation.

Abstract

The rise of social media has led to increased interest among researchers in understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying the growing fascination with celebrities. Using structural equation modeling, the present study examined the relationship between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) in the disconnection and rejection domain and celebrity worship, with difficulty in emotion regulation and sense of coherence serving as mediators. An online survey was administered to 837 students (77.8% female) from 11 Iranian universities. The survey included brief versions of the Young Schema Questionnaire, Sense of Coherence Questionnaire, Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Celebrity Worship Scale. The results indicated a significant correlation between maladaptive schemas and celebrity worship. Using structural equation modeling, the direct relationship between EMSs related to disconnection and rejection and celebrity worship was not significant. However, the indirect path through difficulty in emotion regulation and sense of coherence was significant. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms underlying celebrity worship and highlight the importance of emotion regulation and sense of coherence in understanding this phenomenon.