Meet the Bronies: The Psychology of the Adult My Little Pony Fandom

by Patrick Edwards, Daniel P Chadborn, Courtney N Plante

In 2010, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic premiered on television. A large, avid fandom soon emerged--not the pre-teen female demographic earlier versions of the franchise had been created for, but a roughly 80 percent male audience, most of them age 14-24. With this came questions about the nature of the audience who would come to call themselves "bronies." Brony Studies was born. Approaching the fandom from a perspective of clinical, social and experimental psychology, this study presents eight years of research, written for academics and fans alike. An understanding of the brony fan culture has broader application for other fan communities as well.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fandom

303 pages, Paperback

Published September 22, 2019

Reviews

[Jason Pos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite scientific and written by a bunch of people with doctorates in psychology. Very thorough and gets a bit boring at times with all the data and tables. Conclusion: Bronies are quite normal if not a bit strange, no stranger than Star Trek fans but a bit happier and more altruistic.

[CopperTopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty decent. The research is plenty rigorous, all of it plainly explained for lay readers. I didn't notice too many problems with structure either. The little injokes along the way were also very much appreciated, lubricating what would have otherwise been a rather dry read. All in all, it's a good social scientific investigation of us horselovers: no more, no less.

And that's how Equestria was made!