Dr. Pickhardt states that there are three different kinds of teenage crushes: identity crushes, romantic crushes, and celebrity crushes. What they all have in common is that they are a projection of the adolescent's ideal image, "making it more fantasy than reality" and is a reflection of the person having the crush. He then states, "... she or he attaches strong positive feelings to the perfectly wonderful image that has been created."
<em>Celebrity crushes</em> involve liking a celebrity that fits an ideal image, but because it's not as interpersonal and more fantasy related, it is usually short-lived.
<em>Identity crushes</em> are crushes that the admirer wants to identify with. They want to imitate, or be treated like their crush. That crush is a representation of who they want to be. Teenagers with identity crushes are focused on molding themselves after the person they admire.
A <em>romantic crush</em> is someone they strongly feel attracted to or want to be around all the time. Opposite of identify, this crush isn't someone they want to be, but who they want to be <em>with</em>. This crush deals more with attraction, and can be superficial.
