Courtney N. Plante

Deeper leisure involvement as a coping resource in a stigmatized leisure context.

Although leisure involvement can be a resource for coping with stigmatization, some forms of leisure are themselves stigmatized. One such stigmatized leisure context is the furry fandom, a diverse group of people that create anthropomorphic animal identities. Drawing on the minority stress model and symbolic self-completion theory, we examined survey responses of 3473 members of online furry communities. Greater involvement in the furry community was associated with higher levels of well-being. This association was statistically explained by greater disclosure of furry identity and an indirect path through feelings of self-acceptance and affiliation with the furry fandom linked to greater disclosure of furry identity. Results suggest how deeper leisure involvement helps to counteract minority stress and cope with a stigmatized leisure identity.

‘More than skin‐deep’: Biological essentialism in response to a distinctiveness threat in a stigmatized fan community

We investigated how group distinctiveness threats affect essentialist beliefs about group membership in a stigmatized fan community. An experiment conducted on 817 members of the fan community revealed that highly identified fans who perceived significant stigmatization were the most likely to endorse essentialist beliefs about group membership when exposed to a distinctiveness threat via comparison to a highly similar (vs. dissimilar) outgroup. These results bridge essentialism research and research on distinctiveness threat by demonstrating the mutability of group essentialism beliefs as a defensive response to distinctiveness threats. Implications for future research are discussed.

The Anthrozoomorphic Identity: Furry Fandom Members’ Connections to Nonhuman Animals

ABSTRACT We examined furry fandom members’ anthrozoomorphic identity by investigating this subcultures relationship with nonhuman animals. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and two largescale Internet and convention-based studies of furries, we developed (study 1; n=4,338) and replicated (study 2; n=1,707) the 10-item Species Connection Scale, which is a three-factor model of felt connection to animals: (1) a sense of appreciation or liking for a species, (2) a sense of spiritual or mystical connection to a species, and (3) a feeling of identification with or as another species. We then used this model to predict participants’ psychological wellbeing and tendency to attribute human-like traits and emotions to animals. The results indicated that (1) liking animals may be related to the ascription of secondary emotions to animals (supported in study 1, but not study 2), but was not associated with participant wellbeing (supported by both studies); (2) a spiritual connection to animals did not necessarily predict greater attribution of primary or secondary emotions to animals, but it was associated with greater psychological wellbeing (positive self-esteem in both studies; life satisfaction in study 1); (3) identification as an animal was strongly associated both with a tendency to avoid attributing secondary emotions to animals and negative participant wellbeing (supported by both studies). This research furthers our understanding of one subcultures’ felt connection with animals and suggests that further explorations of how connection with animals affects human welfare are warranted.

“A silver lining”: Violent media, perceptions of a dangerous world, and campus safety intervention.

Research has consistently shown that violent media exposure increases the prevalence of aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior among consumers. Although these effects have been well-established, a far less studied outcome is the tendency for violent media consumers to perceive the world in an increasingly hostile and dangerous manner and the implications of such worldviews. Building upon prior research on student reporting of potential campus violence, the present study tests the idea that being sensitive to danger in the world, a consequence of violent media exposure, may be associated with students’ willingness to report potential threats to campus safety. The hypothesis was tested as a serial mediation model in a sample of undergraduates, with results supporting the proposed pathway. Limitations of the findings are discussed, along with their implications for both future research on media violence effects and for policymakers aiming to recognize and prevent campus violence.