What Happened to the Role Models? How Celebrity Culture and Social Media Are Reshaping Our Minds

If you ask young people today who their heroes are, the answer is increasingly likely to be a social media influencer, with a YouTube channel and 'merch'. Gone are the days when children had a favourite author (I write whilst crying), and while this might seem like just a harmless generational quirk, it represents a profound shift in how we form our values, shape our identities, and develop our capacity for empathy.

But before we explore why this matters, we need to understand the engine driving it all: a profit model built on capturing our attention - and the devastating toll it's taking on our mental health, attention, and cognitive abilities.

How Celebrity Culture Changes Our Brains

The attachments we form with people we've never met, known as parasocial relationships, are real, psychologically potent, and increasingly common. Research shows these one-sided bonds can offer comfort and a sense of connection, but as all profitable businesses do, they come with a catch.

Recent studies have found these parasocial relationships are associated with avoidant and emotion-focused coping styles rather than active problem-solving skills. In other words, turning to celebrities for emotional support is being used as a form of distraction that prevents us from addressing underlying issues.

The impact on our social skills may be just as significant. A systematic review published in 2026 found that problematic or excessive social media use is associated with lower empathy levels in adolescents. While empathy normally develops through rich, face-to-face social interaction, the cue-deprived environment of social media just doesn't offer the same developmental benefits.

At the same time, a randomised controlled trial from Pakistan published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that when compared to cash incentives and celebrity endorsements, only genuine role models successfully reduced vaccine reluctance and improved student achievement. The researchers pointed to theory of mind - our ability to understand others' mental states - as the key mechanism behind the role model effect. Celebrity endorsements simply don't have the same impact.

The Dopamine Trap: How Profit Drives Us to Scroll

So why do we keep turning to our screens, especially when it makes us feel worse? The answer lies in a business model that, as one legal expert puts it, has built its fortune by exploiting a fundamental part of our biology. In the same way nicotine was used to hook smokers, algorithms are designed to keep us scrolling by feeding on our brain's craving for dopamine - a neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure.

The dopamine hit we get from new content on a feed is deliberately manufactured to feed an addiction, making young users - and all of us - more profitable the longer we stay engaged. Social media companies, just like Big Tobacco before them, have engineered their platforms to be as habit-forming as possible, because our attention is their currency.

This constant state of anticipation and reward, however, comes with a significant downside. The very algorithms designed to keep us glued to our screens are optimised to serve up emotionally charged content - not cat videos, but rage-bait and divisive material. This, combined with the endless stream of negative news we encounter, has created the new and damaging phenomenon known as doomscrolling.

This constant consumption of negative news is not a neutral act, and studies show that while engagement with real human beings through social media can increase social interaction and thereby decrease loneliness, it simultaneously creates a fundamental trade-off by significantly straining emotional wellbeing. The more someone consumes negative and divisive news content, the greater the psychosocial deterioration.

What We Learned - and What Our Children Are Learning

For previous generations, role models were often people you could interact with: parents, teachers, community leaders, or local professionals. These relationships allowed for what psychologist Thomas J. Cottle called recognition - being seen, known, and valued by someone who knows your name. This reciprocal recognition is essential for developing a healthy sense of self.

Today's children, by contrast, are forming attachments to role models they will never meet, drawing young people away from genuine connection, self-reflection and into a state of passive consumption. The cultural obsession with fame and visibility often substitutes for the kind of deep personal recognition that only real relationships can provide.

Meanwhile, the fragmented nature of the content they're consuming is taking a cognitive toll. Short-form video formats, characteristic of many platforms, force the brain to repeatedly and rapidly switch contexts. This constant 'over-segmentation' can lead to poorer memory for continuous events and a general decline in cognitive processing abilities. When a brain is accustomed to this constant stimulation, it struggles to maintain focus on a stable stream of information, leading to deficits in sustained attention.

The Societal Cost: A Generation in Crisis

The cumulative effect of these shifts is concerning. Research suggests that when celebrity culture and algorithm-driven content replace genuine mentorship and real-world interaction, we see:

• Lower empathy - problematic social media use is linked to diminished empathic skills

• Higher anxiety - algorithm-driven content amplifies social comparison and unrealistic expectations

• Decreased resilience - young people may lack real-world coping strategies

• Poor mental health outcomes - the pressure to perform and stay relevant takes a psychological toll, even on creators themselves

• Lower motivation - difficulties with impulse control and a lack of motivational drive are strong predictors of addictive social media usage, creating a cycle where motivation wanes and the phone becomes the primary source of stimulation

• Declining cognitive abilities - excessive social media use is associated with impaired attention, reduced working memory, and diminished executive functioning. One study even linked this habitual engagement to a reduction in grey matter volume in brain regions essential for executive function, which can impair creative problem-solving and decision-making

These aren't abstract concerns. While some digital games and certain media can increase knowledge and support personal interests, parasocial engagement often replaces the genuine human connection that supports emotional wellbeing, putting our already vulnerable young people at risk to social, emotional and cognitive disadvantages.

Staying Conscious of Our Influences - and Choosing Better Ones

The good news is that we're not helpless here, media literacy is one of the most effective tools we have for counteracting negative influences. Here's how we can remain conscious of our daily influences and intentionally seek out better ones.

For Parents and Educators:

Teach critical evaluation. Ask children questions like: Who created this? Why was it made? How does it make me feel? Is it based on fact or opinion? These simple prompts build the habit of thinking critically about media.

Model healthy behaviour. Children learn through imitation, often without the model's awareness. Your own media habits matter. If you're constantly doomscrolling, they'll notice.

Create real connections. Recognition happens when someone sees you, knows your name, and values you. This can't be replaced by a screen. Make time for undistracted, face-to-face interaction.

Talk openly. Have honest conversations about online behaviour, explain your choices, and avoid minimising children's concerns. They need to know it's okay to feel overwhelmed, and that these feelings are a sign from their nervous system that it's time to put the phone down.

For Individuals

Audit your influences. Consider whether the people you follow online add to your life or distract you from it. Are they promoting healthy habits or consumerism? Are they making you feel better or worse?

Seek genuine role models. Look for people you can actually interact with or who model behaviours you want to cultivate. Research confirms that real role models are much more effective than celebrity endorsements.

Set boundaries. As content creators themselves note, it's important to take breaks from monitoring statistics and avoid measuring your worth by follower counts. Consider setting screen time limits or scheduling phone-free hours.

Protect your attention. The fragmented content of short-form video is training our brains to be distractible. Counter this by reading long-form articles, listening to podcasts, or simply sitting with your own thoughts without a screen.

Remember: celebrities are constructs. As one artist observed, not having idols is a healthier approach, one that restores people to their humanity. No one's curated online life tells the full story.

Management, Not Rejection

The shift from genuine role models to celebrity worship - and from meaningful connection to addictive scrolling - isn't inevitable. It's a choice we make, collectively and individually. By understanding the science behind how these influences shape our brains and behaviours, we can reclaim our agency.

We can choose to seek out real connection, model healthy behaviours, and teach the next generation to think critically about who they admire, and why. We can take back control of our attention from algorithms designed to exploit it.

The goal isn't to reject entertainment or technology entirely. It's to ensure they don't replace what only genuine human relationships can provide: recognition, empathy, and the kind of support that helps us grow.

And if you're feeling overwhelmed by it all? That's okay. The first step is simply noticing. Next time you reach for your phone, pause. Ask yourself: Is this serving me, or is it using me?

That small moment of awareness might just be the most important habit you can build.