From Taylor Swift to MLK: Understanding adolescents' famous character role models

Famous people can positively influence young people by serving as examples of how to be a good person, but very little is known about which famous people youth look up to and why they do so. We coded and analyzed open-response data from 596 adolescents (M age  = 14.09 years; 58.5% girls, 57.5% White...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of moral education 2024-01, Vol.53 (1), p.157-175
Main Authors: Hammond, Alison B., Johnson, Sara K., Weiner, Michelle B., Lerner, Jacqueline V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Athletes
Celebrities
Character attributes
famous figures
Personality
Public figures
Role models
Young Adults
Youth
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Famous people can positively influence young people by serving as examples of how to be a good person, but very little is known about which famous people youth look up to and why they do so. We coded and analyzed open-response data from 596 adolescents (M age  = 14.09 years; 58.5% girls, 57.5% White) in the northeastern United States to understand the types of famous people youth look up to and why they reported nominating them. Youth identified a variety of individuals as their famous character role models (FCRMs), ranging from athletes to politicians to activists and YouTube stars. The results suggest there are various reasons young people look up to FCRMs as examples of how to be a good person, although character attributes appear to be the most frequently cited reasons. Results serve as an important precursor to a more comprehensive investigation of the influence (either positive or negative) of these public figures.
ISSN:0305-7240
1465-3877
DOI:10.1080/03057240.2022.2041409