title: A Psychological Exploration of Engagement in Geek Culture.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCain
authors.affiliation: Outcomes Research, ICON plc, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: W Keith
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D003405:Creativity; D003469:Culture; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology; D009289:Narcissism; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D018910:Video Games