Meet the Bronies : the psychology of the adult My Little Pony fandom / Patrick Edwards, Daniel P. Chadborn, Courtney N. Plante, Stephen Reysen, Marsha Howze Redden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edwards, Patrick (Brony booster), author.

Chadborn, Daniel P., 1983- author.

Plante, Courtney N., 1986- author.

Reysen, Stephen, author.

Redden, Marsha Howze, 1946- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

My little pony, friendship is magic (Television program).

Male fans--Psychology.

Male fans.

Psychology.

Physical Description:

xii, 291 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2019]

Summary:

"In 2010, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic premiered on television. A large, avid fandom soon emerged-not the pre-teen female demographic earlier versions of the franchise had been created for, but a roughly 80 percent male audience, most of them age 14-24. With this came questions about the nature of the audience who would come to call themselves "bronies." Brony Studies was born. Approaching the fandom from a perspective of clinical, social and experimental psychology, this study presents eight years of research, written for academics and fans alike. An understanding of the brony fan culture has broader application for other fan communities as well."-Provided by publisher"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Meet the Bronies! p. 5

What Makes a Fan a Fan? p. 6

A Crash Course in the History of MLP p. 8

Okay, So What Is a Brony? p. 14

What's the Plan? p. 16

2 Science Is Magic: The History of Brony Study p. 18

What Is Brony Study? p. 18

The History p. 19

Who Are the Brony Researchers? p. 22

So What Kinds of Studies Have We Done? p. 24

Wave 1 2012-2016 p. 25

Wave 2 2015-2018 p. 27

What Does the Future Hold? p. 27

3 Sampling, Statistics, Research Design and Other Nerd Stuff p. 30

A Crash Course in the Scientific Method p. 31

Operationalization: Putting Numbers to Experience p. 32

The Science (and Art) of Study Design p. 34

Sampling: Who Are We Talking About p. 37

Data Analysis: Making Sense of the Numbers p. 39

Limitations and the Fallacy of the Perfect Study p. 41

4 Just How Extremely Unexpected Are the Adult Fans of My Little Pony? p. 44

The Prototypical Brony: It Isn't the "Mane" Thing About Them p. 45

Basic Demographics p. 47

Age and Sex p. 47

Fandom Membership p. 49

Sexual Orientation p. 53

Dating Life p. 54

The Brony Typology p. 55

5 From Ponyville to Manehattan: The Background and Family Life of Bronies p. 58

Where the Herd Roams p. 59

Suited for Success p. 61

Employment p. 63

Being a Pear in a Family of Apples: Brony Parents and Acceptance p. 64

Praise the Sun and Rock the Vote: Bronies, Spirituality and Politics p. 65

6 Equestria Girls and Pony Boys: A Few Final Demographic Comparisons p. 69

Sex Differences in the Brony Fandom p. 70

Demographic and Personality Differences p. 71

Motivations and Exposure p. 72

Feminism p. 74

Comparing Bronies to Non-Bronies p. 75

7 Welcome to Equestria: The Making of a Brony p. 78

How People Think Bronies Come to Be p. 79

Common Paths to MLP Discovery p. 80

The Role of Social Media and the Internet p. 81

"I just don't know what went wrong": Accidental Fans p. 83

Friends, Family and the Power of Word of Mouth p. 84

Why Did It Have to Be Ponies? p. 86

8 Come for the Show, Stay for the Swag p. 88

Watching MLP p. 90

How Bronies Watch: Immersion p. 91

Watching Fan-Made Content p. 93

Convention Attendance p. 96

Brony Swag p. 97

9 "Yes, but why?" Brony Motivation p. 101

Early Studies of Fans: What Motivates Sport Fans? p. 101

Explaining Fan Motivations in Non-Sport Fans p. 103

The Multi Dimensional Motivation of Bronies p. 106

Fandom Functions: What Does Being a Brony Do for You? p. 111

10 The Pony I Want to Be p. 115

The Allure of Interesting Characters p. 116

No, Really, Who is "Best Pony"? p. 118

What Your Favorite Pony Says About You p. 123

Identifying with Characters p. 125

11 Rule 34: Ponies, Pornography and Perceptions of the Fandom p. 129

That Which Shall Not Be Named: The History of "Rule 34" p. 130

Rule 34 p. 131

Pornography, Art and History p. 132

Pornography and Fandom p. 133

Pornography and the Brony Fandom p. 135

Support p. 135

Exposure p. 139

General Consumption p. 140

Who Consumes? p. 143

Production and Sharing of Explicit Content p. 144

What Should the Fandom Do? p. 145

12 The World Outside MLP p. 149

Subgroups Within the Brony Fandom p. 149

Interest in Other Fandoms p. 152

Bronies and Internet Culture p. 155

13 "One of us": Bronies as a Fandom p. 156

Understanding Group Psychology: The Social Identity Perspective p. 157

Understanding Group Psychology: Self-Categorization Theory p. 158

Applying Group Psychology Theories to Fan Groups p. 159

Fanship p. 160

Fanship, Fandom and Engagement with MLP and the Brony Community p. 161

Fanship, Fandom and Sense of Brony Community p. 163

Fanship, Fandom and Brony Meet-Ups and Conventions p. 166

14 "Where I belong": Other Motivations for Fandom Participation p. 169

"I'll be there for you": Where Bronies Seek Social Support p. 170

Optimal Distinctiveness Theory p. 172

Me or Somepony Like Me p. 175

"Who am I and why am I here?" Purpose in Life p. 178

15 Inter- and Intra-Fandom Dynamics p. 181

"My fandom's better than yours!" p. 182

"Real" vs. "Fake" Bronies: Gatekeeping, Status and Entitlement p. 184

"Join the herd!" New Brony Recruitment p. 186

16 Personality Profiles of People Who Prefer Ponies p. 189

The Big Five Dimensions of Personality p. 190

Personality and Fans p. 192

Bronies versus Non-Bronies p. 193

Correlations of the Big Five Dimensions in Bronies p. 196

A Word of Caution: A Social Identity Perspective of the Big Five Personality Dimensions p. 199

17 "Eww, bronies!" Stigma Toward the Brony Fandom p. 201

Fandom Stigma p. 202

Bullying and Hiding One's Brony Identity p. 204

Coping with Stigma: Denial of Personal Discrimination p. 206

Coping with Stigma: Rejection Identification p. 207

Coping with Stigma: Change in Discrimination ("Things are getting better!") p. 208

Reducing Stigma Toward Bronies: Non-Bronies' Exposure to MLP p. 209

18 Bronies: A Surprisingly Happy, Well-Adjusted Group of Fans p. 213

Fandoms, Friendships and Well-Being: Wann's Model of Identification and Well-Being p. 214

Fan Conventions, Well-Being Highs and Post-Con Depression p. 215

Prevalence of Psychological Conditions in Brony Fandom p. 216

Identifying as a Brony and Well-Being p. 218

Perceived Change in Well-Being p. 219

19 Making the World Better, One Kind Act at a Time p. 222

From Charity to Protest: Why People Help p. 223

Media Effects p. 224

Fandom and Helping p. 224

Moral Message p. 226

Moral Foundations and Perception p. 226

Reason for Liking the Show p. 227

Fandom Comparison p. 228

Change in Helping p. 229

Giving and Receiving Help Within the Brony Fandom p. 230

Prosocial Fandom Norms p. 231

20 All Good Things: The Future of Friendship and the Fandom p. 233

Expectations of Future Involvement p. 234

Predicting Future Involvement p. 234

Why Do People Leave the Fandom? p. 236

What the Future Holds p. 242

Nostalgia's One Hell of a Drug p. 243

Sharing Spaces p. 243

Protecting the Fandom p. 244

The Show and the Fandom p. 246

Conclusion: All Good Things p. 246

21 Dear Princess Celestia: Parting Words from Bronies and the Research Team p. 248

Dear Brony Study p. 248

Dear Princess Celestia p. 251.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781476663715

1476663718

OCLC:

1119741062

Publisher Number:

40029483763