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Almost everyone is aware of the rise of social media influencers. More than ever before, young people are doing outrageous and potentially dangerous things on the internet in order to gain attention. Today, many people are attempting to go viral through instagram, twitter, and especially Tik Tok. There are countless viral trends that people participate in to gain popularity on social media apps. Sometimes it seems like people are obsessed with how many likes, views, or comments they get. Wanting to be famous is not a new concept but it has been exacerbated due to social media.
The "fame motive" has actually been studied as a psychological concept. In a research setting the desire for fame has been measured through a series of questionnaires. One approach is to use multiple questionnaires that are aimed at measuring materialism, susceptibility to social influence, celebrities' social power, self-concept clarity, and desire for fame (Gountas, Gountas, Reeves, & Moran 2012).
Try it for yourself: Rate each statement using a 5 point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).
Materialism:
Celebrities' social power:
Desire for fame:
The desire for fame is commonly associated with negative well-being outcomes. A 2019 study of 437 people found that the desire for fame accounted for 7% of a variance in psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, paranoid ideation, and hostility factors) while need to belong accounted for 18% (Zsila, Urbán, McCutcheon, & Demetrovics 2019). A strong desire for fame, as well as the need to belong, can lead to negative mental health outcomes.
People with a strong desire for fame use social media in a way that reflects their need for attention and popularity. This can be potentially problematic considering the negative effects that social media can have on mental health.
People with a desire for fame tend to post more often than those who are not focused on fame. A study of 221 undergraduate students from a large university in the Northeast was conducted to determine the relationship between watching reality TV, desire for fame, and the use of social media. The results reveal that the desire for fame was significantly associated with exhibitionism and exhibitionism was significantly associated with photo posting and status updating (Rui & Stefanone 2016). In this research exhibitionism refers to behaviors aimed at showing off.
Similar results were found in a Korean study of 239 Instagram users aged 20–39 years. The findings indicated that “ individuals higher in narcissism tended to post selfies and self-presented photos, update their profile picture more often, and spend more time on Instagram” (Moon, Lee, Lee, Choi, & Sung 2016). Narcissism is highly linked to the desire for fame. This connection will be discussed later in this article. The results of these two studies demonstrate that people who have a strong desire for fame or attention tend to post more often. This may be because more posts equals more chances for attention.
The desire for fame also impacts what type of posts a person is making. It was found that “narcissistic people drew attention to themselves by displaying a self-promoting and sexy main photo on their Facebook.com profile page” (DeWall, Buffardi, Bonser, & Campbell 2011). Those looking for attention tend to post more provocative photos or other self-promoting. These posts are aimed at making the poster look more appealing.
As explained above exhibitionism is a main component of showcasing the desire for fame on social media. In a 2019 study researchers found “the exhibitionism component of narcissism tends to be associated with less privacy control on SNSs [Social Networking Sites], i.e., profiles that are publicly accessible” (Nardis & Panek 2019). Social media users who desire fame and attention typically have public profiles in hopes that more people will access their contentThese trends are easy to spot in the accounts of top social media influencers. Typically influencers have multiple posts a day, to keep followers engaged. They also have many photos showcasing their physical attractiveness and all their accounts are public.
Here are three possible causes for the desire for fame that we see today.
As briefly mentioned above, narcissism is a main component of the desire for fame. It is common knowledge that the concept of narcissism comes from Greek mythology. Narcissus fell in love with himself when he looked at his reflection. Narcissism involves being self-centered, entitlement, and a need for admiration.
The way that narcissism is measured is through the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory has items that clearly relate to fame seeking. For example, “I really like to be the center of attention” and “I like to start new fads and fashions” (Raskin & Terry 1988). People who are high in narcissism desire attention and to be a leader of some kind. Narcissists believe that they deserve to be the center of attention. These are traits that a congruent with wanting to be a celebrity or social media influencer.
Typically people conceptualize self esteem as either high or low. A better way to think about self-esteem is whether your self-esteem is secure or insecure. Secure self-esteem is stable and does not change based on external factors. Insecure self-esteem fluctuates often and is based heavily on external validation and attention.
A study of 181 female undergraduates found that “individuals who possess unstable high self-esteem reported a stronger desire to become famous than did those with stable high self-esteem” (Noser & Zeigler-Hill 2014). Someone can have a positive opinion of themselves but what this opinion is based on is important. Self-esteem built on external validation, such as likes, followers, and comments on social media, is likely to change from day to day.
A study from the University of Utah found that narcissists reported greater self-esteem instability and that “narcissists who were low in evaluative integration experienced the greatest self-esteem instability” (Rhodewalt, Madrian, & Cheney 1998). Evaluative integration refers to how connected positive and negative information about the self is connected. People low in evaluative integration may only think of negative self-information instead of a mix of negative and positive. This shows that narcissists, people who desire fame, have insecure self-esteem.
One reason that people may crave fame and attention is that sharing information about yourself actually impacts your brain. It has been found that “self-disclosure was strongly associated with increased activation in brain regions that form the mesolimbic dopamine system” (Tamir & Mitchell 2012). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in how people feel pleasure.
Sharing information about yourself causes a release of dopamine in the brain. That means that sharing information about yourself psychologically feels good. People can be motivated to share information about themselves online because of the internal reward of dopamine. People seeking fame may be looking for a platform to disclose more information about themselves because of the positive feelings associated with sharing personal information.
The connection between dopamine and self-disclosure also explains narcissism. Narcissists feel a rush of dopamine when they talk about themselves, which is why they continue to do so. These people often only talk about themselves or things that are related to them because it feels good to do so.
Overall, people desire fame because they are seeking external validation and attention. Social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, and more have made looking for this type of attention fast, fun, and convenient. These platforms allow those seeking fame to potentially reach millions of people.
Although wanting to be famous is not necessarily a bad thing, it may be wise to examine the drivers. For example, insecure self-esteem, which can cause the desire for fame, can also negatively impact other parts of your life. Luckily, there are ways to improve self-esteem stability and overall, increase emotional intelligence.
One way to train your brain is to use self therapy app LIFE Intelligence. LIFE provides a total emotional management toolkit with coaching and therapy snippets one just about every aspect of your life: from goals, to decisions, to relationships. The program consists of 9 "Missions," or topics, that help you build mental resilience, develop self-awareness, manage goals and decisions, and build strong relationships. The app also has a helpful mood tracker and mood-management system, where you can find exercises to deal with everything from anger to anxiety.
Mission 6.6 (of 9) is aimed at building secure self-esteem. Within this module, you will learn the difference between secure and fragile high self-esteem. You will also examine when your self-esteem changes, whether you are honest about how you feel about yourself, and what makes you get defensive. This mission is designed to teach you that secure self-esteem is about accepting yourself, and not relying on the number of views, likes, or follows for validation. Download the LIFE app today to start building your inner confidence.
References
DeWall, C. N., Buffardi, L., Bonser, I., & Campbell, W. K. (2011). Narcissism and implicit attention seeking: Evidence from linguistic analyses of social networking and online presentation. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(1), 57–62.
Gountas, J., Gountas, S., Reeves, R. A., & Moran, L. (2012). Desire for Fame: Scale Development and Association with Personal Goals and Aspirations. Psychology & Marketing, 29(9), 680–689.
Moon, J., Lee, E., Lee, J., Choi, T., & Sung, Y. (2016). The role of narcissism in self-promotion on Instagram. Personality and Individual Differences, 101, 22–25.
Nardis, Y., & Panek, E. (2019). Explaining Privacy Control on Instagram and Twitter: The Roles of Narcissism and Self-Esteem. Communication Research Reports, 36(1), 24–34.
Noser, A., & Zeigler-Hill, V. (2014). Self-Esteem Instability and the Desire for Fame. Self & Identity, 13(6), 701–713.
Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890–902.
Rhodewalt, F., Madrian, J. C., & Cheney, S. (1998). Narcissism, Self-Knowledge Organization, and Emotional Reactivity: The Effect of Daily Experiences on Self-Esteem and Affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(1), 75–87.
Rui, J., & Stefanone, M. (2016). The Desire for Fame: An Extension of Uses and Gratifications Theory. Communication Studies, 67(4), 399–418.
Tamir, D.I., & Mitchell, J.P. (2012). Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 109(21), 8038–8043.
Zsila, Á., Urbán, R., McCutcheon, L., & Demetrovics, Z. (2019). A path analytic review of the association between psychiatric symptoms and celebrity worship: The mediating role of maladaptive daydreaming and desire for fame. Personality and Individual Differences, 151, 109511–.
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