What is it about?
The grief fans experience when a beloved media object, like a band, becomes inactive is neither superficial nor frivolous. This study finds that grief isn't just passive sadness; it is an impetus for active identity work that redefines their relationship to the fan object, their community, and themselves as fans. Fans exert agency over their media and social environments and in the end, make their own decision about their identities moving foward.
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Photo by Anelale Nájera on Unsplash
Why is it important?
In a precarious world where people hold on to their fandoms for comfort and happiness, it has become more and more important to understand what happens to fans when something ends - the grief fans feel, how they cope with it, and how this process reshapes their identity as fans.
Perspectives
The agency and productivity of fans has always been something I found fascinating and worthy of study. I hope this research, aside from contributing to the academic world, can help people be more understanding of fans when they are feeling grief about something ending in their fandom. I also hope that it can help fans who are navigating any difficulties in their fandoms when they read it.
Antonia Beatrice Lee
University of Tokyo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Weathering the storm: Grief and fan identity following the loss of a fan object., Psychology of Popular Media, July 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000620.
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