Fandom Mental Health

My topic is mental health in fandom communities. An unresolved question in this area is the following: are fandom communities beneficial for mental health? It is generally accepted that the formation of communities of like-minded people can be beneficial for socialization. Positive socialization experiences are psychologically healthy for human beings. What is unknown is whether or not fandom communities fall under this category of positive socialization.

Scholars in this field have some disagreement as to whether or not fandom engagement is psychologically healthy. Rudski, Segal, and Kallen suggest in their study named "Harry Potter and the end of the road: Parallels with addiction" that behaviors within fandom communities mimic that of addiction, showing unhealthy obsessive traits. However, Plante, Roberts, Reysen, and Gerbasi in "'One of Us': Engagement With Fandoms and Global Citizenship Identification" suggest that fandoms encourage social engagement on a global scale.


Narrowest possible question: How does participation in fandom activities affect psychological well-being?

"What is the data that you plan on gathering?" I plan on gathering information about the mental illnesses that are already in fandom populations and how fandom participation affects the psychological well-being of those inside fandom communities.

 "How will you help resolve the scholarly unknown?" Understanding fandom as a social community is a relatively new field, much less understanding the mental mechanisms at play inside of fandoms. Adding the dimension of mental illness at play would help add to the pool of knowledge that is still developing.


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