S1 Episode 6: Good Vibrations Show Notes

This week’s episode talks about the importance of community and the true price of free. During the episode I introduced Social Identity Theory as it relates to celebrity fandoms and virtual community spaces. If you’d like to explore some of the research, here are a few articles that discuss the theory and it’s applications.

Social Identity Theory

• Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (2004). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In Political psychology (pp. 276-293). Psychology Press.

• Trepte, S., & Loy, L. S. (2017). Social identity theory and self-categorization theory. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 63, 1-13.

Fandom Culture

• Forner, L., Lutz, S., Zheng, X., & Stein, J. P. (2025). The Dark Side of Fandom: Exploring the Association between Parasocial Relationships with Celebrities and Aggression. Media Psychology, 1-25.

• Lacasa, P., de la Fuente, J., Garcia-Pernia, M., & Cortes, S. (2017). Teenagers, fandom and identity. Persona Studies, 3(2), 51-65.

Parasocial Relationships

• George, C. M. (2024). The Effect of Parasocial Relationship on Self-Identity and Self-Esteem in Forming Fan’s Culture (Doctoral dissertation, St. Teresas College (Autonomous) Ernakulam)).

• Hoffner, C. (2008). Parasocial and online social relationships. The handbook of children, media, and development, 309-333.