The Association of Fanship in Psychosocial Outcomes among K-Pop Fans

Abstract

Korean pop culture (K-Pop) has reached a global fan base outside of Korea. K-pop fanship is still thought to be a passing fad in society, neglecting the influence it has on its fans. Thus, the purpose of this quantitative study is to look into K-pop fanship from a psychological standpoint. Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory was applied as a theoretical framework. The study used purposive sampling to determine participants. In total, 203 K-pop fans ranging from 18 to 35 years old from Malaysia fully completed an online survey with three different instruments measuring fanship, and psychosocial outcomes (happiness and self-esteem). Descriptive analysis, T-Test, One-Way ANOVA and simple linear regression were utilized to analyze the data. Results of this study indicated that K-Pop fanship was significant predictors of happiness and self-esteem. Implications of the findings, limitations, recommendations for future studies were also presented.