RESEARCH PAPER
Why we put on the sorting hat: motivations to take fan personality tests
1
Wayne State University, Detroit, United States
2
Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, Canada
3
Texas A&M University Commerce, Commerce, United States
Submission date: 2019-07-06
Final revision date: 2019-10-29
Acceptance date: 2019-12-09
Online publication date: 2019-12-30
Publication date: 2019-12-30
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2019;7(4):265-273
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
There is little reason to believe that fan-related personality tests, which tell fans what type of person they are based on their fa-vorite fan content, are valid or reliable. Nevertheless, fan-related personality tests remain incredibly popular online.
Participants and procedure:
Building upon existing fan research, the present study tests whether fans may have other motivations for taking such personality tests, drawing upon prior research by Wann. Self-identified fans (N = 425, Mage = 26.41, SD = 8.44) completed measures re-garding degree of identification with their fan interest, motivations to take fan quizzes, and frequency of taking fan personality quizzes.
Results:
Highly-identified fans were found to more frequently take fan-related personality tests, an association significantly mediated by both self-esteem and escapism motivations, but not mediated by eustress, entertainment, belongingness, or family motivations.
Conclusions:
The results suggest that highly identified fans participate in more fan personality quizzes to escape from the hassles of everyday life and increase positive self-worth. These results are discussed with respect to their theoretical relevance – both for research on personality testing and on fan activities – as well as for their practical implications.
There is little reason to believe that fan-related personality tests, which tell fans what type of person they are based on their fa-vorite fan content, are valid or reliable. Nevertheless, fan-related personality tests remain incredibly popular online.
Participants and procedure:
Building upon existing fan research, the present study tests whether fans may have other motivations for taking such personality tests, drawing upon prior research by Wann. Self-identified fans (N = 425, Mage = 26.41, SD = 8.44) completed measures re-garding degree of identification with their fan interest, motivations to take fan quizzes, and frequency of taking fan personality quizzes.
Results:
Highly-identified fans were found to more frequently take fan-related personality tests, an association significantly mediated by both self-esteem and escapism motivations, but not mediated by eustress, entertainment, belongingness, or family motivations.
Conclusions:
The results suggest that highly identified fans participate in more fan personality quizzes to escape from the hassles of everyday life and increase positive self-worth. These results are discussed with respect to their theoretical relevance – both for research on personality testing and on fan activities – as well as for their practical implications.
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