Adolescent identity and social worlds in online fan community

Evidence from text analysis and grounded theory among Chinese high school students

Bibliographic Data

ID9406090
AuthorsZaoyi Sun (0000-0002-4551-3606, Zhejiang University of Technology, corresponding author), Jie Dai (0000-0001-9470-5172, Zhejiang University of Technology), Shenshen Xie (Zhejiang University of Technology)
Year2026
Volume263
Pages106227-106227
Publication date2026-01-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueActa Psychologica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-6918 • E-ISSN: 1873-6297
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106227
PMID41544335
OpenAlexW7124290405
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited54

Idol worship has become a salient socio-cultural practice among Chinese adolescents, particularly high school students facing academic pressures and identity development challenges. This study examines the psychological mechanisms and collective behaviors of idol worship within Weibo's Super Topic Communities through a mixed-method approach. A corpus of 14,480 posts was analyzed using LIWC, treated here as a linguistic tool to describe language patterns rather than infer psychological states, while 15 semi-structured interviews were analyzed using grounded theory. Findings show that adolescent fans display stronger emphases on aspirations, peer affiliation, and goal pursuit compared to adult fans. The interview analysis generated a multi-stage model in which aesthetic and spiritual gratifications underpin idol identification, while community participation fosters belonging and group cohesion. Platform-mediated structures further amplify shared emotions and channel them into financial, affective, and time investments. This study advances fan research by proposing an explanatory model of adolescent idol worship, situating identity development within platform-mediated, data-driven communities and integrating linguistic and narrative evidence

Community of practice · Grounded theory · Identity (music · Narrative · Salient · Social identity theory · Worship · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Media Influence and Health

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