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The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 56
Psychological Needs Predict Fanship and
Fandom in Anime Fans
Adam Ray, Texas A & M University-Commerce
Dr. Courtney N. Plante, Iowa State University
Dr. Stephen Reysen, Texas A & M University-Commerce
Dr. Sharon E. Roberts, Renison University College, University of Waterloo
Dr. Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Niagara County Community College
Abstract
We examined whether the psychological
needs fulfilled by group membership
predicted fanship (identification with a fan
interest) and fandom (identification with
other fans) among anime fans. Self-
identified anime fans completed measures of
fanship and fandom, as well as measures
assessing the psychological needs met by
their participation in the anime community.
The results showed that there are similarities
and differences between male and female
anime fans in the needs met by fandom
participation. Furthermore, these differences
in fulfilled needs predicted differences in
fanship and fandom scores. However,
overall, there existed few differences
between male and female anime fans in
motivation to engage with the anime fandom.
Keywords: anime, fan, fanship, fandom,
identification, needs
Introduction
People belong to groups as a way of
fulfilling a variety of psychological needs
(e.g., Vignoles, Regalia, Manzi, Golledge, &
Scabini, 2006). For example, social identity
theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) posits that
individuals belong to groups to maintain
positive and distinct social identities as part
of a broader need for positive self-evaluation.
Others suggest that group participation
fulfills a variety of needs, including efficacy,
meaning, continuity (the need to feel a
connection between the past, present, and
future), belongingness, interpersonal
distinctiveness (see Vignoles, Regalia,
Manzi, Golledge, & Scabini, 2006),
uncertainty reduction (Hogg, 2000),
friendship (Wann, 2006), social support
(Haslam, Jetten, Postmes, & Haslam, 2009),
formation of a world-view (Turner &
Onorato, 1999), and self-validation (Swann,
Kwan, Polzer, & Milton, 2003; Turner &
Onorato, 1999). In the present study we
examine these psychological needs in
members of the anime fandom, testing
whether self-identification as an anime fan
fulfills these needs and whether this
fulfillment predicts the extent and nature of
fan participation.
Fandom, Fanship, and Fan Motivation
In their research on fans, Reysen and
Branscombe (2010) found evidence for two
related, yet empirically distinct constructs,
fanship and fandom. Fanship refers to one’s
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 57
felt connection to a fan interest, while
fandom refers to one’s felt connection to the
fan group (i.e., other fans of the same
interest). To illustrate: the statement “I love
watching anime” reflects fanship, as it refers
to a personal interest and identification with
particular content; in contrast, the statement
“I love the anime community” reflects
fandom, as it refers to group identification
and other fans, not to content. Psychological
research on fans has focused primarily on
team identification (Wann & Branscombe,
1993), a construct analogous to fanship.
Only recently have researchers begun to
study fandom, typically doing so from a
social identity perspective (Reysen, Plante,
Roberts, & Gerbasi, 2015). And while
fanship and fandom intuitively seem to go
hand-in-hand, research has shown that they
need to be considered independently. For
example, in one study examining fan
motivations (e.g., belongingness, escape),
researchers found that sexual attraction to
others predicted the extent to which furries,
which are fans of anthropomorphism (art,
cartoons, costuming, literature), identified
with furry-themed content, but did not
predict the extent to which they identified
with other furries (Schroy, Plante, Reysen,
Roberts, and Gerbasi, in press). Put another
way, sexual attraction motivated furries to
like furry content, but did not motivate them
to identify with the broader furry community.
To this point, the reviewed literature has
shown that fans differ in their underlying
motivation and in the nature of their fan
interest. Researchers have also discovered
that sex plays an important moderating role
in fan participation. For example, female
fashion fans express greater fanship than
male fashion fans (Pentecost & Andrews,
2010), male sport fans show more extreme
fan behavior (e.g., aggressive language) than
women (Pentecost & Andrews, 2010),
female literary fans purchase more
merchandise than men (Bihagen & Katz-
Gerro, 2000; Park, Kim, & Forney, 2005),
and women tend to interpret fan content
more artistically than men; that is, females
have a greater appreciation for the artistic
nature of anime and manga, whereas men
seem to be more interested in the action and
story (Chen, 2004). Sex differences in the
motivations underlying fan participation
have also been found, particularly in the
domain of sport fans (Wann, 1995; Wann,
Schrader, & Wilson, 1999). For example,
male sport fans tend to be more motivated
than female fans by aesthetics,
entertainment, economic incentives,
escapism, eustress, and self-esteem, whereas
female fans are more motivated than male
fans by family. Reinforcing these findings,
Dietz-Uhler, Harrick, End, and Jacquemotte
(2000) found that these sex differences
could be explained by differences in social
motivation: females’ primary motive for
being a fan was to attend games and watch
sporting events with friends and family,
while male interest was more likely to be
driven by prior experience playing sports
and wanting to acquire sports information
(Dietz-Uhler et al., 2000). Taken together,
this research suggests that females enjoy
being a part of a sport fandom for the social
interaction it allows, while males tend to
prefer the entertainment value and sense of
escapism provided by the interest.
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 58
The Anime Fandom
Anime fans are enthusiastic admirers of
Japanese animation and comic books
(manga), the extent of which can be
illustrated by the success of anime in North
America despite geographic, cultural, and
language barriers (Leonard, 2005). Anime
fans express their interest in multitudinous
ways, including watching anime and reading
manga novels, creating their own artwork,
costuming (i.e., cosplay), and other fan-
produced content (e.g., fan dubbing). As a
group, anime fans tend to be young (e.g.,
college students), male, introverted, and to
identify with other aspects of geek culture
(e.g., video games; Reysen, Plante, Roberts,
Gerbasi, & Shaw, in press). Anime fans are
stigmatized by non-fans (Reysen, Plante,
Roberts, Gerbasi, Mohebpour, & Gamboa,
2016), in part because anime fans are
atypical in comparison to sport fans, who
tend to be the prototype of a stereotypical
fan (Reysen & Shaw, in press). Anime fans
have been shown, in past research, to be
motivated by the need to belong and by the
entertainment provided by anime (Schroy et
al., in press). Others (e.g., Chen, 2004) have
suggested that female anime fans, in
particular, are motivated to interact with
other anime fans as a means of escaping
social oppression, gender discrimination,
and to express desires for an ideal romantic
relationship.
While prior research has studied the
motivational factors underlying anime fans
and the way in which these factors predict
fandom and fanship among anime fans,
these motivating factors were derived from
research on sport fans (Wann, Melnick,
Russell, & Pease, 2001). In the present
research we attempt to broaden the
perspective and test the relationships
between many other psychological need by
testing the relationship between a variety of
other psychological needs (e.g.,
distinctiveness, efficacy, meaning in life)
and scores of fanship and fandom.
Current Study
The purpose of the present study is to
explore sex differences in the psychological
needs (e.g., self-esteem, belongingness)
motivating anime fans and to study whether
these needs explain sex differences in
fanship and fandom. Self-identified anime
fans completed measures assessing
psychological needs fulfillment, fanship, and
fandom. Although this study is exploratory,
we predicted, based on prior research
(Schroy et al., in press), that belongingness
would emerge as a predictor of participants’
fanship and fandom scores. We did not,
however, have any other a priori predictions.
Methods
Participants and Procedure
Participants (N = 923, 57.6% male; Mage
= 26.06, SD = 7.86) included self-identified
anime fans recruited at A-Kon (anime
convention in Dallas, TX) and through
anime-related websites. As part of a longer
questionnaire, participants completed
measures related to psychological needs,
fanship, and fandom. All measures used a 7-
point Likert-type response scale, from 1 =
strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree.
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 59
Measures
Psychological needs. To assess the
psychological needs met by anime fandom
participation, we adapted six items (“Being
a member of the anime community gives me
a sense of self-esteem,” “Being a member of
the anime community makes me feel like a
competent or capable person,” “Being a
member of the anime community gives me a
sense of “meaning” in my life,” “Being a
member of the anime community gives me a
sense of continuity—between past, present,
and future—in my life,” “Being a member
of the anime community makes me feel
close to, or accepted by, other people,” and
“Being a member of the anime community
makes me distinct and unique compared to
other people”) from Vignoles and colleagues
(2006). These items were used to assess the
extent to which the anime community
fulfilled participants’ needs for self-esteem,
efficacy, meaning, continuity, belongingness,
and distinctiveness. Additionally, we
constructed items assessing other well-
studied psychological needs, including
reduction of uncertainty (“Being a member
of the anime community reduces the
uncertainty in my life”), friendship (“Being
a member of the anime community provides
me a way to make and maintain
friendships”), social support (“Being a
member of the anime community provides
me with social support when I need it”),
world-view (“Being a member of the anime
community provides me with a world-view
(a perspective to view the world)”), and self-
verification (“Being a member of the anime
community validates my world-view”).
Fanship. We adapted three items (“I am
emotionally connected to being an anime
fan,” “I strongly identify with being an
anime fan,” “Being an anime fan is part of
me”) from Reysen and Branscombe (2010)
to assess fanship (α = .91).
Fandom. We adapted three items (“I
strongly identify with other anime fans in
the Anime community,” “I am glad to be a
member of the anime community,” “I see
myself as a member of the anime
community”) from prior research (Doosje,
Ellemers, & Spears, 1995; Reysen,
Katzarska-Miller, Nesbit, & Pierce, 2013) to
assess identification with the fandom (α
= .89).
Results
We began by examining correlations
among all assessed variables. As shown in
Table 1, all of the variables were
significantly positively related to one
another. Next, we examined differences
between men and women on the assessed
variables using a MANOVA with sex as the
independent variable and the remaining
variables as the dependent variables. The
overall test was significant, Wilks’ Lambda
= 0.97, F(13, 909) = 2.24, p = .007, ηp2
= .031. As shown in Table 2, women rated
the anime fandom as providing significantly
more self-esteem and social support than
men. We next conducted a pair of
multivariate regressions (one for males, one
for females), entering all of the
psychological needs simultaneously as
predictors of fanship. The regression was
significant for males, F(11, 520) = 39.06, p
< .001, R2 = .45, and females, F(11, 379) =
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 60
35.01, p < .001, R2 = .50. As shown in Table
3, fulfillment of self-esteem, meaning in life,
continuity, and distinctiveness needs
predicted fanship for men, whereas, for
women, fanship was predicted by anime’s
ability to fulfill self-esteem, meaning in life,
and world-view needs. Another pair of
regression analyses were run, this time
predicting fandom instead of fanship (see
Table 4). The regression was significant for
males, F(11, 520) = 34.83, p < .001, R2 = .42,
and females, F(11, 379) = 27.15, p < .001,
R2 = .44. For men, fandom scores were
predicted by the fulfillment of self-esteem,
meaning in life, distinctiveness, uncertainty
reduction, and friendship needs, while for
women, fandom was predicted by the
fulfillment of meaning in life, belongingness,
and distinctiveness needs.
Discussion
The purpose of the present study was to
explore sex differences in psychological
needs as predictors of fanship and fandom in
anime fans. We predicted, based on prior
research, that belongingness would emerge
as a unique predictor of fanship and fandom.
This hypothesis was only partially supported,
as belongingness was not a significant
predictor of fanship, but was a significant
predictor of fandom for women (but not
men). The results showed that there were
more similarities than differences between
sexes: while some predictors were
significant for one sex but not the other,
these differences (as indicated by examining
whether the betas were significantly
different) were small enough to suggest that
these are differences of magnitude rather
than of kind.
The present findings reveal that male
and female anime fans were generally
comparable in the relationship between their
psychological needs and their degree of
fanship and fandom. This conclusion is
supported by three findings. First, self-
esteem was a significant predictor of fanship
and fandom for both men and women. These
findings, particularly the fandom result, are
consistent with social identity theory (Tajfel
& Turner, 1979), which suggests that
individuals seek to belong to groups that
allow them to maintain positive and distinct
social identities. Put succinctly, anime fans
like anime, in part, because it provides them
a positive evaluation of the self. Second, the
need for meaning in life significantly
predicted fanship and fandom for both men
and women, a finding consistent with the
idea that being a member of a group or
organization can provide one with a people a
sense of purpose (Grant & Hogg, 2012;
Vignoles et al., 2006). Finally,
distinctiveness predicted both fanship and
fandom in both men and women. This
finding is consistent with optimal
distinctiveness theory (Brewer, 1991), which
emphasizes that people have a need to stand
out meaningfully from others: liking anime
and participating in the fandom may provide
anime fans with a relatively distinct identity
(e.g., compared to more prototypical sport
fans). In sum, the data suggest that men and
women do not differ in the extent to which
anime’s ability to provide them with a sense
of self-esteem, meaning, and distinctiveness
contributes to their sense of fanship and
fandom.
Despite these similarities, however,
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 61
some evidence suggests that male and
female anime fans may differ in the
relationship between need fulfillment and
fan participation. It is worth noting that the
only significant difference in betas was for
worldview, where the relationship between
worldview and fandom and fanship was
significantly stronger for women than for
men. Women may be more interested in the
social aspects, which is tied to worldview
validation (Turner & Onorato, 1999).
Female students considered fan behavior to
be appearing at, viewing, or cheering at
sports events with friends and family (Dietz-
Uhler et al., 2000). This is an indicator that
females consider social aspects, such as
being with friends and family, more of a
motivation to be a part of a fandom than
men, who believe being an active part of a
fandom entails participation in events, rather
than cheering on the sidelines (Antunovic &
Hardin, 2012).
Although related, fanship and fandom
have been found, in prior research, to be
empirically distinct constructs, as the
motivation to be a fan and the motivation to
be an active participant in the fandom may
not always align (Schroy et al., in press).
The results of the present study support this
point with examples of fandom and fanship
being distinctly predicted by different
psychological needs, and extending the point
by showing that these differences
themselves differ by sex. For example, for
women in the present sample, self-esteem
predicted fanship, but not fandom; in
contrast, belongingness predicted fandom,
but not fanship. were stronger predictors of
women’s connection to other fans. In
contrast, for men, continuity predicted
fanship, but not fandom, whereas
uncertainty reduction and friendship
predicted fandom, but not fanship. While
these examples illustrate the importance of
considering fandom and fanship as distinct
constructs in psychological research on fans
and suggest that there may be sex
differences in the relationship between fan
motivation and these constructs, the reasons
for these differences are beyond the scope of
the present paper. Future research would do
well to more fully explore the nature of
these differences and the possible
mechanisms underlying them.
Several limitations of the present
research are worth noting. First, the present
study was correlational. As such, it is
impossible to draw causal conclusions from
the data. Second, the items used were
imperfect operationalizations of the
constructs under study – sometimes
measured indirectly, or using a single item.
Although prior research has utilized a subset
of these items (see Vignoles et al., 2006),
future studies should employ more thorough
measures to provide greater construct
validity. Finally, although the sample
consisted of both convention-going fans and
fans from a variety of countries solicited
online, the sample was predominantly
comprised of individuals from Western
countries. This is likely a likely product of
the survey being available only in English.
The results may vary if the sample contained
more individuals outside these Western
cultural spaces, and it remains for future
research to not only test the replicability of
the present findings, but to also test their
generalizability to other cultural contexts.
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 62
Conclusion
The present study was a unique
examination of the relationship between
numerous psychological needs and fanship
and fandom among anime fans. Overall, our
results suggest that male and female anime
fans are more alike than different with
respect to the psychological needs they
fulfill by participating in the anime fandom.
Nevertheless, preliminary data suggested
that there were some differences between
male and female anime fans, which future
researchers would do well to investigate to
better understand the mechanisms
underlying fandom involvement and to test
whether men and women experience
fandoms and fan cultures differently.
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Author Note
This research was supported by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council
of Canada. Address correspondence to
Stephen Reysen, Department of Psychology,
Texas A&M University-Commerce,
Commerce, TX, 75429. E-mail:
Stephen.Reysen@tamuc.edu
The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 65
Table 1
Correlations between Assessed Variables Split by Sex (Males Top of Diagonal, Females Bottom of Diagonal)
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
1. Fanship -- .77 .55 .51 .58 .58 .54 .56 .45 .46 .50 .45 .49
2. Fandom .78 -- .57 .51 .53 .52 .54 .53 .40 .50 .52 .39 .46
3. Self-Esteem .59 .56 -- .84 .68 .65 .68 .58 .57 .58 .67 .46 .55
4. Efficacy .56 .54 .85 -- .72 .67 .69 .58 .56 .56 .68 .50 .60
5. Meaning .63 .55 .68 .72 -- .76 .65 .60 .62 .52 .63 .54 .62
6. Continuity .58 .50 .62 .67 .69 -- .68 .58 .59 .55 .66 .58 .60
7. Belongingness .59 .60 .73 .73 .67 .68 -- .58 .54 .70 .72 .48 .54
8. Distinctiveness .56 .54 .66 .68 .62 .60 .70 -- .57 .52 .56 .51 .58
9. Less Uncertainty .55 .48 .55 .61 .74 .69 .62 .59 -- .47 .58 .48 .56
10. Friends .51 .54 .61 .61 .59 .59 .73 .59 .55 -- .71 .49 .45
11. Social Support .57 .56 .64 .64 .63 .63 .75 .59 .64 .74 -- .56 .55
12. Worldview .57 .49 .55 .60 .62 .62 .61 .60 .61 .51 .60 -- .74
13. Self-Verification .54 .48 .59 .64 .71 .64 .61 .61 .69 .55 .63 .80 --
Note. All correlations significant at p < .001.
The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 66
Table 2
Means (Standard Deviation) of Motivations, Fanship, and Fandom by Sex
Variable Men Women F p ηp2
Fanship 4.80 (1.64) 4.69 (1.75) 1.01 .316 .001
Fandom 4.91 (1.54) 4.84 (1.66) 0.41 .523 .000
Self-Esteem 4.08 (1.77) 4.36 (1.80) 5.37 .021 .006
Efficacy 3.93 (1.72) 4.13 (1.84) 2.68 .102 .003
Meaning 3.82 (1.81) 3.95 (1.98) 1.18 .278 .001
Continuity 4.29 (1.84) 4.27 (1.89) 0.03 .854 .000
Belongingness 4.44 (1.72) 4.57 (1.84) 1.20 .273 .001
Distinctiveness 4.20 (1.85) 4.36 (2.03) 1.61 .204 .002
Less Uncertainty 3.41 (1.85) 3.51 (1.96) 0.70 .404 .001
Friends 4.80 (1.71) 4.86 (1.83) 0.31 .575 .000
Social Support 4.09 (1.81) 4.40 (2.03) 6.07 .014 .007
Worldview 4.36 (1.92) 4.55 (1.99) 2.22 .137 .002
Self-Verification 3.64 (1.85) 3.71 (1.94) 0.35 .554 .000
Note. 7-point Likert-type scale, from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree.
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 67
Table 3
Motivations Predicting Fanship by Sex
Men Women
Variable (95% CI) p-value (95% CI) p-value
Self-Esteem .198 (.040, .359)a .014 .217 (.067, .387)a .004
Efficacy -.134 (-.292, .022)a .089 -.125 (-.287, .035)a .124
Meaning .185 (.051, .309)a .003 .268 (.129, .407)a < .001
Continuity .164 (.036, .291)a .011 .114 (-.023, .262)a .101
Belongingness .076 (-.050, .196)a .221 .027 (-.122, .183)a .682
Distinctiveness .245 (.139, .355)a < .001 .122 (-.002, .239)a .055
Less Uncertainty -.031 (-.132, .079)a .605 .018 (-.114, .150)a .804
Friends .044 (-.072, .152)a .467 .011 (-.115, .140)a .886
Social Support .005 (-.122, .125)a .941 .109 (-.033, .247)a .130
Worldview .036 (-.087, .163)a .542 .224 (.090, .360)b .002
Self-Verification .060 (-.061, .180)a .325 -.109 (-.252, .030)a .124
R2 .452 .594
F-value 39.06 35.01
df (11, 520) (11, 379)
Note. Standardized betas with different subscripts differ significantly (p < .05). Bootstrapping
with 5,000 iterations (95% confidence intervals).
The Phoenix Papers
, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 68
Table 4
Motivations Predicting Fandom by Sex
Men Women
Variable (95% CI) p-value (95% CI) p-value
Self-Esteem .300 (.150, .451)a < .001 .157 (-.024, .332)a .085
Efficacy -.129 (-.274, .012)a .074 -.070 (-.251, .114)a .428
Meaning .115 (.009, .232)a .035 .164 (.012, .301)a .035
Continuity .101 (-.017, .219)a .097 -.012 (-.142, .130)a .899
Belongingness .054 (-.068, .173)a .382 .177 (.009, .346)a .041
Distinctiveness .194 (.095, .290)a .001 .147 (.016, .275)a .027
Less Uncertainty -.096 (-.190, -.006)a .038 -.034 (1.142, .086)a .578
Friends .149 (.026, .273)a .017 .123 (-.029, .269)a .129
Social Support .056 (-.061, .171)a .338 .097 (-.046, .236)a .188
World-View -.047 (-.155, .068)a .450 .144 (-.006, .279)b .064
Self-Verification .090 (-.032, .209)a .136 -.103 (-.254, .048)a .175
R2 .424 .441
F-value 34.83 27.15
df (11, 520) (11, 379)
Note. Standardized betas with different subscripts differ significantly (p < .05). Bootstrapping
with 5,000 iterations (95% confidence intervals).
