ABSTRACT
This chapter is a review of studies that have examined how personality factors affect idol worship in Chinese societies. This chapter discusses studies conducted in Hong Kong that have examined how idol worship is related to attachment styles, loneliness, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and so on. There appears to be a general tendency that strong idol worshippers, particularly adolescents, are likely to be lonely and insecurely attached and to have low self-esteem during adolescence. Further, this chapter argues that personality is formed according to how individuals perceive and evaluate themselves. For example, the five-factor model studies argue that self-esteem is positively associated with extroversion and conscientiousness and negatively associated with neuroticism (Goldberg and Rosolack 1994; Pullman and Allik 2000; Robins, Hendin, and Trzesniewski 2001). In addition, cross-cultural studies have found similar results showing that self-esteem is associated with several socially desirable personality traits (Robins, Hendin, and Trzesniewski 2001). Entertainment-social worship has been significantly and positively related with extroversion (Maltby, Houran, and McCutcheon 2003). Intense-personal worship has been positively correlated with neuroticism. This chapter ends with a thorough discussion, concluding with the recommendation that all findings be verified in future studies using both experimental and longitudinal research designs. Further research is also needed to measure the influence of star idols that is immune to the individual's self-selection (i.e., even though worship of idols or star idols may not be the root cause of retarded youth development, it may function as an important mediator that reinforces the effect of the root cause).
