Meet the Bronies: the psychology of adult My little pony fandom

Description

Cover; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface; 1. Meet the Bronies!; What Makes a Fan a Fan?; A Crash Course in the History of MLP; Okay, So What Is a Brony?; What's the Plan?; 2. Science Is Magic: The History of Brony Study; What is Brony Study?; The History; Who are the Brony Researchers?; So What Kinds of Studies Have We Done?; Wave One: 2012-2016; Wave Two: 2015-2018; What Does the Future Hold?; 3. Sampling, Statistics, Research Design and Other Nerd Stuff; A Crash Course in the Scientific Method; Operationalization: Putting Numbers to Experience Cover Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface 1. Meet the Bronies! What Makes a Fan a Fan? A Crash Course in the History of MLP Okay, So What Is a Brony? What's the Plan? 2. Science Is Magic: The History of Brony Study What is Brony Study? The History Who are the Brony Researchers? So What Kinds of Studies Have We Done? Wave One: 2012-2016 Wave Two: 2015-2018 What Does the Future Hold? 3. Sampling, Statistics, Research Design and Other Nerd Stuff A Crash Course in the Scientific Method Operationalization: Putting Numbers to Experience The Science (and Art) of Study DesignSampling: Who Are We Talking About Data Analysis: Making Sense of the Numbers Limitations and the Fallacy of the Perfect Study 4. Just How Extremely Unexpected Are the Adult Fans of My Little Pony? The Prototypical Brony: It Isn't the "Mane" Thing About Them Basic Demographics Age and Sex Fandom Membership Sexual Orientation Dating Life The Brony Typology Conclusion 5. From Ponyville to Manehattan: The Background and Family Life of Bronies Where the Herd Roams Suited for Success Education Employment Being a Pear in a Family of Apples: Brony Parents and AcceptancePraise the Sun and Rock the Vote: Bronies, Spirituality and Politics Conclusion 6. Equestria Girls and Pony Boys: A Few Final Demographic Comparisons Sex Differences in the Brony Fandom Demographic and Personality Differences Motivations and Exposure Feminism Comparing Bronies to Non-Bronies Conclusion 7. Welcome to Equestria: The Making of a Brony How People Think Bronies Come to Be Common Paths to MLP Discovery The Role of Social Media and the Internet "i just don't know what went wrong": Accidental Fans Friends, Family and the Power of Word of MouthWhy Did It Have to Be Ponies? 8. Come for the Show, Stay for the Swag Watching MLP How Bronies Watch: Immersion Watching Fan-Made Content Convention Attendance Brony Swag 9. "Yes, but why?" Brony Motivation Early Studies of Fans: What Motivates Sport Fans? Explaining Fan Motivations in Non-Sport Fans The Multi-Dimensional Motivation of Bronies Fandom Functions: What Does Being a Brony Do for You? Conclusion 10. The Pony I Want to Be The Allure of Interesting Characters No, Really, Who is "Best Pony"? What Your Favorite Pony Says About YouIdentifying with Characters 11. Rule 34: Ponies, Pornography and Perceptions of the Fandom That Which Shall Not Be Named: The History of "Rule 34" Rule 34 Pornography, Art and History Pornography and Fandom Pornography and the Brony Fandom Support Exposure General Consumption Who Consumes? Production and Sharing of Explicit Content What Should the Fandom Do? Conclusion 12. The World Outside MLP Subgroups Within the Brony Fandom Interest in Other Fandoms Bronies and Internet Culture 13. "One of us": Bronies as a Fandom