Studies of Otherkin?
August 2, 2005 5:35 PM Subscribe
Have researchers ever explored the psychological or cultural factors behind the Otherkin phenomenon?
There's been a Mefi thread.
My thought is that it's an instance of a very common mental condition of believing often extreme things for pleasure or to fulfill inner urges rather than out of evidence. New Age beliefs and now these esoteric groups that form on the Internet seem to me examples of the same mental tendency. One challenge could be that mainstream religion can fall under this definition, which as a secularist would please me, but since mass acceptance and social pressure contribute to that, that may more of a social issue than an individual mental one.
posted by abcde at 8:24 PM on August 2, 2005
My thought is that it's an instance of a very common mental condition of believing often extreme things for pleasure or to fulfill inner urges rather than out of evidence. New Age beliefs and now these esoteric groups that form on the Internet seem to me examples of the same mental tendency. One challenge could be that mainstream religion can fall under this definition, which as a secularist would please me, but since mass acceptance and social pressure contribute to that, that may more of a social issue than an individual mental one.
posted by abcde at 8:24 PM on August 2, 2005
Academic Search Elite doesn't turn up anything, for what it's worth.
posted by Jeanne at 4:01 AM on August 3, 2005
posted by Jeanne at 4:01 AM on August 3, 2005
I knew someone in college who believed he is what human beings are evolving toward. Trust me, he wasn't.
posted by leapingsheep at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2005
posted by leapingsheep at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2005
Nothing on any of the psychological journals I am able to research on - Groliers Expanded Academic, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES...
posted by ajpresto at 10:57 AM on August 3, 2005
posted by ajpresto at 10:57 AM on August 3, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by LadyBonita at 6:22 PM on August 2, 2005