Fans: A Journey into the Psychology of Belonging

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'A celebration of human idiosyncrasy and of our talent for building shared meaning and solidarity out of the strangest material' - TLS Fans takes the reader on a journey through a constellation of fandoms, and along the way demonstrates some fundamental truths about the human condition. Fascinating and thought-provoking, Fans is a story of communities, of what happens to us when we interact with people who share our passions. The human brain is wired to reach out, and while our groupish tendencies can bring much strife (religious intolerance, racism, war, etc.), they are also the source of some of our greatest satisfactions. Fandoms offer much of the pleasure of tribalism with little of the harm: a feeling of belonging and of shared culture, a sense of meaning and purpose, improved mental well-being, reassurance that our most outlandish convictions will be taken seriously, and the freedom to try to emulate (and dress like) our hero. But acclaimed science writer Michael Bond shows that despite these benefits, the world of fandoms is not without its dark underside, from the "copycat effect" fuelling mass shootings to the delusions that can accompany the parasocial relationships that fans feel they have with their heroes. In Fans, Michael Bond draws on the work of social psychologists and anthropologists to understand how people behave in groups and why such groups have such a profound effect on human culture.

Reviews

Entertaining and insightful * The Times *
Highly enjoyable * Independent *
A celebration of human idiosyncrasy and of our talent for building shared meaning and solidarity out of the strangest material * TLS *
A fascinating insight into why people come together in pursuit of something they love and the very real benefits it can bring to our lives * i-D *
Bonds research is extensive, informative, engagingly presented and his topic timely. * Financial Times *

Author Bio

Michael Bond, who won the 2015 British Psychological Society prize for The Power of Others, is a writer specialising in human behaviour and a former editor and reporter at New Scientist. He is currently teaching writing as a Royal Literary Fund fellow at Oxford Brookes University. He is also the author of Wayfinding.