Influence of Celebrity Obsession and Mental Health on Self Identity and Academic Achievement - Rafaut Noor - Bog

Education includes a wide spectrum of knowledge and info which is difficult to be defined. Whatever broadens our horizon, deepens our insight, enhances our understanding, refines our emotions, piques our curiosity, and stimulates our thought and feelings, always educates us in some way. Education draws out the innate potentialities of students as well as unfolding their natural abilities and interests before the society. The process of education starts from the birth of a person. Education includes all forms of influences, direct or indirect, formal or informal, deliberate or incidental, planned or unplanned. The academic achievement of students is correlated with the potentialities and capabilities developed as outcomes of education. Thus, educationists try to fully concentrate on the development of potentials of the students to recognize and channelize them for the benefit of the individual and society.

Adolescence is the age of many twists and turns as there are multiple transitions involving education, vocation, social interactions, upcoming responsibilities and future life. A wide and deep understanding of adolescence is based on the information we receive from different perspectives including philosophy, psychology, biology, politics, sociology, sports, and multimedia industries. As this technetronic world is progressing by leaps and bounds, media has taken over the globe. Along with the various psychological factors, celebrity culture emerged as one of the most influential factors which seems to affect the self-identity and academic achievement of students especially at senior secondary level. As youngsters in this group tend to get influenced and fascinated very soon by the glamorous world, they develop their self-identity accordingly as they want to be the best among their peers.

Humans have a natural tendency to recognize people, whom they admire and acquaint these people for inspiration, fantasies, romance or for gossip. These admired people are known as "Celebrities" who usually summon utmost human desires, i.e., love, romance, passion, courage, imitation, inspiration, life goals etc. Celebrities seem charming and fascinating to normal people because they look as if they are involved in a universe which is parallel to others. That is just like ours yet is light-years beyond reach and on comparison normal lives seem boring and dull.

Academic achievement is the basis on which the entire educational outcome of students is determined. It is one of the major aims of education. Apart from, considering it as a criterion of moving to the next class, academic achievement is also an indicator of success and it in turn establishes the future pattern of one's living. All educators try to understand the strengths and weaknesses of students whom they teach. They even explore the factors affecting the educational outcomes of their students. These factors play an important role in understanding the relationship between students' self-identity and academic achievement.