Girls Just Wanna … Figure Out Their Sexuality: Exploring the Links between Celebrity Idolization and U.S. Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Self-Concept

Adolescent girls may use celebrity idols as avenues to safely explore their sexual needs and desires. Using a sample of U.S. adolescent girls, the researchers examined the relationship between celebrity idolization and four aspects of the girls’ sexual self-concept. Results indicated that celebrity idolization was positively associated with sexual anxiety, sexual self-esteem, and enjoyment of sexualization but was negatively associated with sexual self-efficacy. When broken down by sexual identity (i.e., heterosexual or LGBQ+), however, the relationships only remained significant for heterosexual girls. Overall, results suggest that celebrity idols can function as potential targets for romantic/sexual development for heterosexual teen girls, but for LGBQ+ girls, there is still more to understand about how they develop and process their sexual self-concept beyond heteronormative celebrities.