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TODAY
A Justin Bieber fan gets hysterical at the concert.
They’d been camping on the streets of New York City for three days -- throngs of teen and tween girls, who had gone without showers (except for the ones that fell from the sky) in the hopes of getting a front row glimpse of their favorite teenage heartthrob.
And when everyone’s imaginary “Boyfriend” Justin Bieber took the stage this morning to play a mini-concert for TODAY, these super-fans did what teen groupies have done for eternity: they screamed, they cried, they quivered.
So what's behind all the shrieking and sobbing, the shaking and swooning? Is there a physiological explanation for this fan-demonium or is it simply tween and teen girls gone wild?
"It's basically a group response set off by emotions and hormones," says Dr. Sarah Pitts, a specialist in adolescent medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.
TODAY
The crowd surrounds The Biebs.
A lot has to do with what's happening in the heads of tweens and teens. In those early adolescent years from 10 to 14, kids are searching for new people to love outside of their family and they might glom on to a celebrity crush, suggests Pitts.
In addition, being around groups of young people may also make this behavior more "contagious" during a phase when peer pressure rules. For the 15- and 16-year old Bieber fans in the audience, there's also the growing interest in forming relationships and sexual attraction that fuels the emotional excitement of seeing your teen idol.
"The teen brain is still significantly changing and not yet in its final form," points out Pitts. "And that affects how teens respond to the world around them."
Young girls are especially prone to getting emotional and when they get excited, they cry "happy tears."
"I don't know that there's a scientific basis for that," admits Pitts. "It comes down to the chemistry in our brains and nerves."
As for keeling over, Pitts says fainting is really common in teens, more so in females.
If a young Bieber fan has been standing outside for hours, and they're sleep deprived and very excited, and perhaps also hungry and cold, then passing out is a possibility. It's more of an emotional faint, in which falling over is actually protective allowing blood to quickly shunt back to the brain.
Of course, this generation is not the first to weep, screech, and faint at its teenage heartthrobs. These behaviors go way back. If it wasn't the Biebs who was bringing on the waterworks and hysteria, it was the Jonas Brothers, or ‘N Sync; the Jackson 5, the Beatles or Elvis.
So why don't young boys scream and swoon at a Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez concert? "Boy's brains and hormones are wired differently," says Pitts. And while it's culturally OK for girls to cry, that's not the behavioral norm for guys.
Then again, maybe it's just that chicks are the bigger Bieber "believers."
More on Justin Bieber:
- Surviving a concert camp-out: 7 tips from Bieber fans
- Matt Lauer joins Twitter (with some help from Bieber)
- Video: Justin and 'Mrs. Bieber' chat with Matt Lauer
- Watch his TODAY performance
More from Body Odd:
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What's behind Bieber fever? I blame Bin Laden and his posse.
Whatever the attraction, we can pretty much count out talent.
He is talented at walking into glass...
The explanation would apply as well to the "fans" of Benny Hen and his ilk.
I'd just throw pop in general in that category. Imagination? Sure. Talent? Not so much.
I thought that mystery was figured out back during Beatlemania. And I hate to say it but I think this is one of the reasons why some men have trouble taking women seriously.
Who the @!$%# CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???
I make teen girls cry.. when they see my face. :( Not in a good way too.
LOL
Can't sing, can't dance (unless you like the look of someone that dances like they've got something stuck up their behind). Definitely no talent.
The same thing that made the Beatles girls cry
the Davey Jones girls cry
Aaron Carter girls cry.
Unlike obama who now makes everybody cry.
lol
Another ignorant Retardican fool who has to drag Obama into it.
ok killjoy, it was a joke. youre probably a belieber tho lol
I voted for Obama (and will again), but I still thought it was a good joke!
ps I cried at a Bobby Sherman (anybody out there remember him??) concert when I was 13!!
Here Come the Brides! ;)
Because they are adolescents with zero control over their emotions which is amplified via herd brain?
What's that flushing sound?
Oh it's the global economy still collapsing.
So what's behind all the shrieking and sobbing, the shaking and swooning? Is there a physiological explanation for this fan-demonium or is it simply tween and teen girls gone wild?
It's called Immature Ignorance.
What causes Bieber fever? Bath Salts!
Gay teen boys crave Justin Bieber as well. No one talks about them.
Not quite as much as you'd think, from what I'm told. Bieber looks too feminine for them (hence all the "lesbian" comments he gets).
What's behind it? America has been dumbed down by crap like American Idol and all of the other lame talent shows. most of the "singers" on these shows couldn't sing their way out of a paper bag but yet they are treated like they actually have talent. When a fool like Bieber comes along these same people that watch these terrible shows are suckered into thinking he can actually sing. His 15 minutes of fame will end soon and Walmart will have all of the posters and calendars 75% off!
And you are full of crap. It happened with Elvis, the Beatles, Davy Jones, Tom Jones, and others.
Take your mean spirited nature and a good book and curl up with a stiff drink. Perhaps your outlook on life will change.
Where can I get an inoculation to keep this from happening? I defiantly don't want it!
They cry for the same reason the Frank Sinatra bobby soxers did. For the same reason the girls cried when Elvis and the Beatles performed. Hormones.
how do they explain the 20+ year olds at the Bieber concerts with the fever?
immaturity
What causes Bieber Fever? Biebers, of course! Actually, this is an idiotic question... as though this never occured with the BeeGees, or Rod Stewart, or Elvis, or the Beatles, or for Glen Miller, for crying out loud. You think this is a new phenomenon? Find some NEWS to write about, Cari Nierenberg!!
he'll go the way of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus within two years, and we won't hear about him till he O.D.'s with a hooker at the age of 29
I wonder what the hooker's name will be? Jim, perhaps? Or maybe David?
So did they ever announce if she knocked up that girl last year? Of course, girl on girl crime is rampant in this country. I wonder if she cried while doing it?
Think Hitler.
He made the masses "swoon" even though he was evil as all sin.
(not to say anything bad about your Beieber)
But the concept is the same.
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, and the list goes on.
When people are in mass they act like lemmings.
Ths is how Obama got elected.
Maybe they're crying over how bad he sucks!
He didn't look like this in the magazine! ).;
sniff sniff
It's definitely NOT talent...
When's Bieber releasing his line of lingerie and makeup?
The same morons that think twilight is a good movie or a good book maybe?
Lack of intelligence...obviously. Who the hell would cry over any "star" let alone a talentless tool like him?
I wonder if Obama cried when Justin Bieber performed for him and his family last year? I bet he did.
What I wonder more about is why the bitter hatred some people have of this kid? Is it jealousy? I've never heard him sing (seriously) - the closest I came is watching a parody of one of his songs on YouTube, and that's enough...definitely not the kind of music I care for. But look at some of the comments above, and some that I'm sure will follow. I see it all over the internet...a lot of hateful stuff being spewed. Is someone forcing people to watch/listen to him? I'm just curious.
It is jealousy. Their lives suck and his doesn't.
JTM that is exactly right. Everybody wants to see someone fall, but nobody wants to see someone make it and be a success. It's the "if I can't have it, I don't want you to have it either" mentality. It's really rather sad.
He can sing. I don't know about dance, but the young girls like it, so what of it? It all depends on how he manages his fame and career. He can have a lifetime career if he wants and does it right. Or like someone said he could OD with a hooker at 29. It's all in the road you choose. He has donated a boatload of money to different charities and helped out a ton of people in need ALREADY, so my bet is that he has a level head on his shoulders and will make it for the long haul. The naysayers have many years of negativity if they stay on the hater bandwagon forever. Get over it. Don't be jealous and don't be a hater just cause someone else is making it.
It must be politically correct.
Because they sadly don't know of something that's truly worth aspiring to do, such as graduating as valedictorian, contributing to change the life of a family in need, et. al. Instead, their pinnacle of this stage in life will be "I touched the arm of a guy who has no idea I exist."