Intragroup Helping As a Mediator of the Association Between Fandom Identification and Self-Esteem and Well-Being

We examined whether intragroup helping mediates the relationship between identification with one’s fandom and self-esteem and psychological well-being in three different samples of fans: bronies (fans of the television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), anime fans (fans of Japanese animation and graphic novels), and furries (fans of anthropomorphic art and stories). Fans completed measures of ingroup identification, intragroup helping, and self-esteem (Studies 1 & 2) or psychological well-being (Study 3). Across all studies, the results tended to support intragroup helping as a mediator of the relationship between identification and self-esteem (Studies 1 & 2) and psychological well-being (Study 3). The results highlight a possible mechanism contributing to the benefits of belonging to fan groups and illustrate the possible benefits of helping others within one’s fan group.