Positive Psychosocial Outcomes and Fanship in K-Pop Fans: A Social Identity Theory Perspective

Abstract

Korean pop culture (K-Pop) has spread its influence outside of Korea to a worldwide fan audience. The present study investigated the self-categorised K-Pop fandom characteristics that predicted higher levels of K-Pop fanship, and subsequent psychosocial outcomes. Social identity theory was applied as a theoretical framework. In total, 1477 K-Pop fans from 92 predominantly Western countries fully completed an extensive online survey measuring fanship, fandom and psychosocial outcomes (happiness, self-esteem and social connectedness). Results of this study indicated that K-Pop fanship was significantly predicted by a several K-Pop demographic and fandom characteristics. K-Pop fanship was a significant predictor of increased happiness, self-esteem and social connectedness. The study findings advance the application of social identity theory in a K-Pop fan context and the psychological fanship research more broadly.

Breaking up with my idol: A qualitative study of the psychological adaptation process of renouncing fanship

“…In the context of pop culture, the idol or celebrity usually refers to pop star, sports hero, etc. Within the past 20 years, fandom, which refers to the community of fans who are attached to each other with common ingroup identity, has been evolving substantially with the development of social media platform (Laffan, 2021).…”

“…Previous studies on celebrity worship and idol worship within the context of pop culture discussed the intrinsic nature of this phenomenon (Till, 2010;Gleason et al, 2017); examined behavioral and psychological features of online and offline fans (Williams and Ho, 2016;Kunert, 2021), especially the psychological well-being (Brooks, 2021), psychiatric symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, difficulties in integration of experiences in various life domains, and maladaptive daydreaming; Somer et al, 2017;Zsila et al, 2018), and pathological, addictive, or deviant behavior (McCutcheon et al, 2002;Zsila et al, 2019) associated with entertainment idols within a clinical context (Maltby et al, 2006;Sheridan et al, 2007); developed multiple measurement tools (Maltby et al, 2006;Cheung and Yue, 2011); identified the correlates, antecedents and outcomes of celebrity worship (Ang and Chan, 2018;McCutcheon et al, 2021), including demographics (Gleason et al, 2017), personality (Maltby and Day, 2017), social, behavioral, and psychological factors (Brooks, 2021;Laffan, 2021); explored the operating mechanisms of fandom and fan culture within the field of pop culture and social media platforms (Van den Bulck et al, 2016;Yin, 2020), the routine practices of "algorithmic culture" (Alaimo and Kallinikos, 2017;Fung, 2019;Livingstone, 2019), the sense of duty and obligation as commitment to the community and the idol (Zhang and Fung, 2017), as well as the interaction and co-evolution among multiple actors including the idol, pop industry, fans, and social media platform (Giles, 2002;Yan and Yang, 2021). However, few of them have focused on the final stage of idol worship, including the breakup and recovery process.…”

“…Fanship was conceptualized to reflect the personal identity of one's psychological attachment to their interest (Reysen and Lloyd, 2012;Stephens et al, 2021). It was suggested that fanship is a fluctuating phenomenon that shows a certain lifecycle (van Driel et al, 2022), indicating that one's fanship intensity changes over time (Schroy et al, 2016;Laffan, 2021). Learning how to adjust to the end of a relationship is a key task of emerging adulthood (O'Sullivan et al, 2019).…”

K-Popers and ARMY BTS: An uprising subculture community in Indonesia

“…By contrast, other research showed how fanaticism actually provides a positive influence on fans' well-being, which in turn manifest in their demeanor (Laffan, 2020;Lozano et al, 2020). However, fans' image and identity are also strongly affected by media narratives and how the general public emotional response to them (Oliver & Bartsch, 2011;Vinney et al, 2019).…”

Indonesian K-Pop fans: The relationship between ARMY-BTS identity and their demographic

“…This reluctance would be affecting fans' psychosocial well-being. Several studies revealed that there were positive aspects, where media fiction narratives or idols could provide, from idolizing or fanaticism (Laffan, 2020;Lozano Delmar et al, 2020). These acts of reluctance would certainly be creating a negative impact on fans' psychological and social life.…”