With the meteoric success of  TV shows such as Hannah Montana and American Idol, which champion the everyday American finding ways to make dreams of stardom come true, perhaps it’s not surprising that a new study finds that fame is the No. 1 value among the tween generation.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Psychology Research on Cyberspace, found a substantial jump in the importance of fame to 9-to 12-year-olds, also known as tweens. Researchers analyzed the top two tween TV shows in the U.S. once a decade beginning in 1967, and up until the most recent study fame was ranked 15th out of  the 16 values listed in the study, meaning it had the most dramatic rise of any other value.

The No. 1 value in 1997, community feeling, has since dropped to 11th place. Researchers reported a rise in “individualistic values” among tweens. The other top values after fame were achievement, popularity, image and financial success. The least popular values among today’s tweens were benevolence, conformity, security, tradition and spiritualism.

Researchers said the shift in TV characters’ values away from traditional vales is the reason for this change. The values promoted on The Andy Griffith Show or The Lucy Show are drastically different than those on modern-day television, they said.

Although it is common for values to change with the times, lead author Yalda Uhls said in an interview with CNN the fact that such an impressionable age group holds fame in such high esteem could be cause for concern, especially in a society where media — and media stardom — is ubiquitous.

“With Internet celebrities and reality TV stars everywhere, the pathway for nearly anyone to become famous, without a connection to hard work and skill, may seem easier than ever [Uhls told CNN]…When being famous and rich is much more important than being kind to others, what will happen to kids as they form their values and their identities?”