Abstract
Geek culture is a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.). However, geek culture is becoming increasingly mainstream; for example, in the past year alone, Dragon*Con, a major Geek convention in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted an attendance of over 57,000 members. The present article uses an individual differences approach to examine three theoretical accounts of geek culture. Seven studies (N = 2354) develop the Geek Culture Engagement Scale (GCES) to quantify geek engagement and assess its relationships to theoretically relevant personality and individual differences variables. These studies present evidence that individuals may engage in geek culture in order to maintain narcissistic self-views (the great fantasy migration hypothesis), to fulfill belongingness needs (the belongingness hypothesis), and to satisfy needs for creative expression (the need for engagement hypothesis). Geek engagement is found to be associated with elevated grandiose narcissism, extraversion, openness to experience, depression, and subjective well-being across multiple samples. These data lay the groundwork for further exploration of geek culture as well as provide a foundation for examining other forms of subculture participation.
Highlights
A geek is traditionally defined as an enthusiast who develops expertise on a topic through exceptional determination and devotion [1]
We refer to geek culture as a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.)
In a series of regressions containing all the personality grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, self-esteem, the Big Five personality traits, subjective well-being, and depression) and demographics variables, grandiose narcissism no longer predicted Japanese or Hobbies engagement and vulnerable narcissism no longer predicted any subscale scores. These results suggest that grandiose narcissism does predict most of the immersive elements of geek culture when controlling for demographics, it does not predict hobbies beyond demographics, and vulnerable narcissism does not predict the immersive elements of geek culture when controlling for demographics
Summary
A geek is traditionally defined as an enthusiast who develops expertise on a topic through exceptional determination and devotion [1]. The word “geek” is used to describe enthusiasts in science, technology, and engineering and especially devoted fans of media (i.e., “fandom geeks”). We refer to geek culture as a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.). Geek culture includes a range of activities such as role-playing games (e.g., Dungeons and Dragons), science fiction (e.g., Star Trek), comic books, and dressing in costumes (i.e., cosplay). Geek interests were once marginalized [2], comic book movie adaptations (e.g., Iron Man, Thor) [3] are major box office draws. Science-fiction (sci-fi) and fantasy themed video games (e.g., World of Warcraft) have become multi-billion dollar
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