question: What causes people to believe a celebrity they've never met loves them?
comment: The particular condition is called *erotomania*, and it is a type of delusion. For most, erotomania is tied to a disorder of a nature that is rooted in psychosis (e.g. bipolar, schizophrenia) but some people seem to have it independently. I know of a woman (friend of a friend) who has had 20 restraining orders executed against her, almost all from celebrities who she believed loved her. She has no other comorbid mental illnesses as to my knowledge. As for the "why", the answer is no more clear than the cause for delusions of grandeur in general. A lack of attention, low-self worth, and other factors *may* play a part, but subjects of this nature are very nuanced.
passages: Section::::Classifications.:Love obsessional.
   As the name suggests, individuals who demonstrate this sort of stalking behavior develop a love obsession with somebody who they have no personal relation to. Love obsessional stalking accounts for roughly 20–25% of all stalking cases. The people that demonstrate this form of stalking behavior are likely to suffer from a mental disorder, commonly either schizophrenia or paranoia. Individuals that are love obsessional stalkers often convince themselves that they are in fact in a relationship with the subject of their obsession. For example, a woman who had been stalking David Letterman for a total of five years claimed to be his wife when she had no personal connection to him. Other celebrities who have fallen victim to this form of stalking include Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Jodie Foster, and Mila Kunis, along with numerous other A-list stars.
   Section::::Classifications.:Entertainment-social.
  
  This level of admiration is linked to a celebrity’s ability to capture the attention of their fans. Entertainment-social celebrity worship is used to describe a relatively low level of obsession. An example of a typical entertainment-social attitude would be “My friends and I like to discuss what my favorite celebrity has done.”
   "Celebrity worship" is a term coined by Lynn E. McCutcheon, Diane D. Ashe, James Houran in a series of articles published primarily in the "North American Journal of Psychology" and a non-peer reviewed working paper series called "Current Issues in Social Psychology", the "Journal of Psychology" and "British Journal of Psychology".
   Simple obsessional stalking constitutes a majority of all stalking cases, anywhere from 69–79%, and is dominated by males. This form of stalking is generally associated with individuals who have shared previous personal relationships with their victims. However, this is not necessarily the case between a common member of the public exhibiting celebrity worship syndrome and the famous person with whom they are obsessed. Individuals that meet the criteria of being labeled as a “simple obsessional stalker” tend to share a set of characteristics including an inability to have successful personal relationships in their own lives, social awkwardness, feelings of powerlessness, a sense of insecurity, and very low self-esteem. Of these characteristics, low self-esteem plays a large role in the obsession that these individuals develop with their victim, in this case, the famous person. If the individual is unable to have any sort of connection to the celebrity with which they are obsessed, their own sense of self-worth may decline.
   Section::::Classifications.:Erotomanic.
   These fans will often hold a crush on a major movie star, pop star, athlete or celebrity (see teen idol). The groupie is an example, a fan of a particular band or musician, who will follow them on concert tours. The degree of devotion to celebrities can range from a simple crush to the deluded belief that they have a special relationship with the star which does not exist. In extreme cases, this can lead to celebrity worship syndrome, stalking behavior. This can easily switch to hatred of the previously loved celebrity, and result in attempts at violent attacks, one notable incident being the death of Rebecca Schaeffer by a stalking fan in 1989.
   This is an intermediate level of obsession that is associated with neuroticism as well as behaviors linked to psychoticism. An example of an intense-personal attitude toward a celebrity would include claims such as “I consider my favorite celebrity to be my soul mate.” It has been found that in particular, people who worship celebrities in this manner often have low self-esteem with regards to their body type, especially if they think that the celebrity is physically attractive. The effects of intense-personal celebrity worship on body image are seen in some cases of cosmetic surgery. Females who have high levels of obsession are more accepting of cosmetic surgery than those who do not obsess over celebrities to this extent.
   A number of historical, ethnographic, netnographic and auto-ethnographic studies in diverse academic disciplines such as film studies, media studies, cultural studies and consumer research, which – unlike McCutcheon et al. focused mainly on a student sample (with two exceptions) – have actually studied real fans in the field, have come to very different conclusions that are more in line with Horton & Wohl's original concept of parasocial interaction or an earlier study by Leets.
   It may also be seen in the form of obsessively following celebrities on social media, although considered the lowest level of celebrity worship. It has been seen to have a number of negative effects with regards the development of unhealthy eating tendencies, poor body image and low self esteems especially in young adolescents. This can be supported by a study carried out on a group of female adolescents between the ages of (17–20)￼￼.
  
  Section::::Classifications.:Intense-personal.
   Though low levels of celebrity worship (entertainment-social) are not associated with any clinical measures, medium levels of celebrity worship (intense-personal) are related to fantasy proneness (approximately 10% of the shared variance), while high levels of celebrity worship (borderline-pathological) share a greater association with fantasy proneness (around 14% of the shared variance) and dissociation (around 3% of the shared variance, though the effect size of this is small and most probably due to the large sample size). This finding suggests that as celebrity worship becomes more intense, and the individual perceives having a relationship with the celebrity, the more the individual is prone to fantasies.
   In the "London Review of Books", Andrew O'Hagan wrote about the series' principals: "If real fame is a mask that eats into the face, then pseudo-fame, the current kind, might be a decoy that eats into the brain. You often meet those people in California, people who have forgotten that you are real, that you watch the news, that you know who they really are. They begin to lie to journalists and themselves with the same grim hope: if I say this and no one contradicts me it might be true. A sense of entitlement stands in for personal values. They don't mind if they're fooling you and fooling themselves, so long as they can keep the show on the road."
   The “dual entertainment path model” suggested by scholar Kineta Hung shows that fans and non-fans adopt different ways to engage with their favorite celebrities For non-fans, they usually pay attention to celebrities and the released news to escape from boredom. In contrast, Hung theorizes that fans put a much higher emotional investment in order to create an individual “bond” with celebrities, which gives them pleasure and a sense of satisfaction. According to Hung, fans may typically try to become physically and mentally closer to their idols by attending concerts, movies, and fan-meetings. In extreme circumstances, fans may become obsessed with celebrities and invade their privacy by stalking them. Scholar Jens Hoffman has argued that this is a result of a pathological fixation, as fans exhibiting this can believe that there is a special connection between their favorite celebrities and themselves, even though such a relationship does not exist in reality. Once unsatisfied, this fixation can lead fans to invade celebrity privacy out of disappointment and resentment.
   "To people who have grown tired of self-government, the belief in kings and queens and fairy tales seems easier and more comfortable than the practice of politics," wrote Lewis Lapham in his book, "The Wish For Kings". This notion is the basis for the naturally occurring relationship between "regular" men and women, and those on a pedestal.
  
  The famous religious books of the world's faiths are replete with examples of individuals who are well known by the general public. Some of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt set in motion devices to ensure their own fame for centuries to come.
   John Crocker has been the friend of the Celebrity, long before he became famous. During a summer retreat at Asquith resort, he runs into the Celebrity, who has taken the identity of another man for anonymity. The Celebrity meets Irene Trevor, the daughter of an Ohio state senator, and asks her to marry him, and she accepts. When a female he perceives as more desirable, Marian Thorn, arrives at Asquith, the Celebrity leaves Miss Trevor without breaking off the engagement. That behavior goes against the moral fiber of the Celebrity's stories. Both women know his true identity as a famous writer and are familiar with his published works.
   This can be again supported by a study carried out, which investigated the link between mass media and its direct correlation to poor self-worth/ body image in a sample group of females between the ages of (17–20).
   Section::::Classifications.:Borderline-pathological.
  
  This classification is the most severe level of celebrity worship. Often, it is expressed by statements like “If someone gave me one thousand dollars, I would consider spending it on a sanitary napkin used by my favorite celebrity.”
  
  Section::::Mental health.
   Celebrities have positively reacted to their "stan" followings. Notably, English singer-songwriter Jessie J had this to say about her stans, "They support me and buy my albums and singles, and they stand outside hotels, and they come to shows, and they get tattoos of my lyrics and they cut their hair like me. You have to love your fans. That's why I call them my Heartbeats, because without them I wouldn't be here". In 2012, a stan for Jessie J broke her leg to emulate her own leg injury. The fan tracked down Jessie J's personal address and sent her a photograph of the self-inflicted injury. The singer was horrified and decided to increase her security.
   Erotomanic, originating from the word erotomania, refers to stalkers who genuinely believe that their victims are in love with them. The victims in this case are almost always well known within their community or within the media, meaning that they can range from being small town celebrities or famous personalities from Hollywood. Comprising less than 10% of all stalking cases, erotomanic stalkers are the least common. Unlike simple-obsessional stalkers, a majority of the individuals in this category of stalking are women. Similar to love-obsessional stalkers, the behavior of erotomanic stalkers may be a result of an underlying psychological disorder such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. Individuals who suffer from erotomania tend to believe that the celebrity with whom they are obsessed with is utilizing the media as a way to communicate with them by sending special messages or signals. Although these stalkers have unrealistic beliefs, they are less likely to seek any form of face-to-face interaction with their celebrity obsession, therefore posing less of a threat to them.
   Another explanation, used by Chuck Palahniuk, is that this exaggeration of modern celebrity culture is created out of a need for drama and spectacle. In the book "Haunted", he describes the pattern of creating a celebrity as a god-like figure, and once this image is created, the desire to destroy it and shame the individual in the most extreme ways possible. Tabloid magazines are the prototype example of this theory.
  
  Section::::Posthumous fame.
   It is also of note that the actual value which an individual brings to a group is not of consequence in determining his or her popularity; the only thing that is important is his or her value as perceived by the other members of the group. While perceived value and actual value may often overlap, this is not a requisite and it has been shown that there are instances in which an individual's actual value is relatively low, but they are perceived as highly valuable nevertheless.
  
  Section::::Interpersonal causes.:Attractiveness.
   Celebrity worship syndrome
  
  Celebrity worship syndrome (CWS) is an obsessive addictive disorder in which a person becomes overly involved with the details of a celebrity's personal and professional life. Psychologists have indicated that though many people obsess over film, television, sport and pop stars, the only common factor between them is that they are all figures in the public eye.
  
  Section::::Classifications.
  
  Section::::Classifications.:Simple obsessional.
   There has recently been an intersection of celebrity and political culture. This is a result of the large platform given to celebrities; as Jane Johnson, a reporter for the popular British celebrity publication Closer observed, the gossip surrounding celebrities is a nationally unifying factor among all social groups. This unification and large platform provided by celebrities has been a point of interest for political leaders and groups to gain farther reach within various campaigns. Young adults have had historically lower voter turnout than any other voting age group. Knowing this, politicians and public figures draw from the cultural resources curated by celebrities by mimicking the popular, accessible public persona given off by today's celebrities. As noted by author Frank Furedi, “Politicians self consciously attempt to either acquire a celebrity image or to associate themselves with individuals who possess this status”. This can be seen with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who has become somewhat of a celebrity because of the perception of being personable and supporting progressive, liberal policies. Another example of this was Katy Perry campaigning and performing for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Presidential election.
   Oates said, "I'm focusing on how a person who is a celebrity is so admired that he casts a kind of aura, that people stare at the aura, and they don't really want to see that the person himself is somewhat stunted." Oates wanted to explore society's views toward toward celebrities accused of grave crimes. People don't want to believe it because the person is famous. Through her novel, Oates is saying that just because someone (celebrity or not) presents himself or herself as something does not mean it is what they truly are. The novel makes that point when Reid Pierson is accused of being involved in the disappearance of Krista and Mero, and the media makes up stories (or excuses). For example, in the novel the media speculates that Krista and Mero were lovers and decided to run away together.
   It was a talent that came out of nowhere. One day, Lindsay Scott was on the top of the world, the child star of a hit TV show. The next day her fame had turned into torture. Every time anyone said anything about her, anywhere in the world, she heard it: praise, criticism, back-stabbing… Lindsay had what looked like a nervous breakdown and vanished from the public eye. Now she’s sixteen, and a tabloid newspaper claims that her own father is holding her hostage. The truth is much stranger, but that tabloid article sets off a chain of events that forces Lindsay to finally confront who she really is.
  