Psychology of Popular Media Culture

Fan Fiction as a Vehicle for Meaning Making: Eudaimonic

Appreciation, Hedonic Enjoyment, and Other Perspectives
on Fan Engagement With Television
Cynthia Vinney and Karen E. Dill-Shackleford
Online First Publication, February 15, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000106

CITATION
Vinney, C., & Dill-Shackleford, K. E. (2016, February 15). Fan Fiction as a Vehicle for Meaning
Making: Eudaimonic Appreciation, Hedonic Enjoyment, and Other Perspectives on Fan
Engagement With Television. Psychology of Popular Media Culture. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000106
 Psychology of Popular Media Culture © 2016 American Psychological Association
2016, Vol. 5, No. 1, 000 2160-4134/16/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000106

Fan Fiction as a Vehicle for Meaning Making: Eudaimonic

Appreciation, Hedonic Enjoyment, and Other Perspectives on Fan
Engagement With Television

Cynthia Vinney and Karen E. Dill-Shackleford

Fielding Graduate University

Fan fiction has received minimal attention from psychological researchers. To begin to
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

fill that gap, we analyzed fan fiction about the TV show Mad Men to investigate how
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fans use fan fiction to make meaning from the source text. A sample of fan fiction
stories was coded for the presence of eudaimonic and hedonic story components, the
emotions expressed in the stories, the perspectives adopted by the fan writers, and plots
that function as wish fulfillment. Findings indicated that fan fiction writers’ motivations
were more eudaimonic than hedonic, the stories often contained mixed or negative
emotional content, the writers frequently took the perspective of a female character in
their stories, and in some cases the stories enabled characters to achieve positive
resolutions denied them by the source text. Taken together, the results point to the many
ways in which fans engage with and make sense of a popular TV show. Future
psychological research on fan fiction of additional popular culture texts would be
valuable for understanding the ways fans grapple with various elements of those texts.

Keywords: appreciation, enjoyment, eudaimonic and hedonic motivations, meaningfulness, fan

fiction

Television fandom has sometimes been con- including artwork, videos, and cosplay, enable
strued as a degraded social status; fans are com- fans to consider, critique, and comment on their
monly criticized for eschewing real life for the favorite shows while making these fictional
make-believe of TV and accused of not quite worlds their own (Hellekson & Busse, 2014).
knowing the difference between fantasy and One noteworthy form of creative fan practice
reality (Dill, 2009; Larsen & Zubernis, 2013; is the writing of fan fiction. Fan fiction uses the
Zubernis & Larsen, 2012). However, although settings, plotlines, and characters of a source
many assume that TV viewing is largely passive text, such as a movie, TV show, or book, to
and motivated by a shallow desire for distrac- create new narratives. Although fan fiction first
tion or light entertainment, fans are often “ac- appeared in the pages of science fiction fanzines
tively engaged in dealing with cognitive and in the 1930s (Coppa, 2006a), the growth of the
affective challenges posed by the media con- Internet has allowed it to proliferate (Thomas,
tent” (Bartsch & Hartmann, 2015, p. 2).
2011). Today, writers can easily share their
Indeed, TV fans often strive to derive meaning
latest work of fan fiction with a large online
from their favorite series. In some cases this ac-
community of like-minded fans and can quickly
tivity goes beyond the analysis and discussion of a
given TV series to become a creative pursuit. receive feedback about their stories.
Creative fan works, which take numerous forms It is noteworthy that most of the literature
on popular culture fans comes from the hu-
manities. Though this work is fruitful and
important, it is surprising that popular culture
fans have received minimal attention from
Cynthia Vinney and Karen E. Dill-Shackleford, School of psychology researchers— especially as it
Psychology, Fielding Graduate University. would seem that the discipline of psychology
Correspondence concerning this article should be ad-
dressed to Cynthia Vinney, School of Psychology, Fielding
has much to offer this field (Dill-Shackleford,
Graduate University, 2020 De la Vina Street, Santa Barbara, Hopper-Losenicky, Vinney, Swain, & Hogg,
CA 93105. E-mail: [email protected] 2015).
1
 2 VINNEY AND DILL-SHACKLEFORD

This study takes a first step toward filling this Thus, although fan fiction is often derided as
gap by applying psychological theory to the lacking originality, it could be seen as one ex-
domain of fan fiction. Specifically, this study ample of the way limitations can spark creativ-
analyzes fan fiction based on the TV show Mad ity and free fans to play with and transform
Men (Weiner, 2007–2015) to investigate source texts (Stein & Busse, 2009). Numerous
whether the stories are written for fun or to other perspectives on and explanations for fan
explore something deeper, the emotional con- fiction exist in addition to those explored here.
tent of the stories, the perspective adopted by However, psychological theory has rarely been
the writers, and whether the stories are written used to understand the reasons fans write and
out of a wish to see characters achieve positive read fan fiction. In the following section, we
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resolutions. explore some psychological theories that may

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be especially salient to the study of fan fiction.

Previous Fan Fiction Studies
Responding and Relating to
In the earliest incarnation of contemporary Popular Culture
fan studies, fans were conceptualized as disem-
powered poachers who appropriated and rein- Hills (2002) notes that “fan” is a designation
terpreted mass media texts to evade the mes- one must claim, and participating in a fan com-
sages of the powerful (Gray, Sandvoss, & munity is an active way of exercising one’s
Harrington, 2007). Jenkins (1992) claimed that fandom. From the uses and gratifications per-
fan cultures were the result of both fans’ fasci- spective, audiences actively select the media
nation and frustration with works of popular they consume to gratify specific wants and
culture, and that fan fiction writers “do not so needs (Potter, 2012; Rubin, 1993). Thus, indi-
much reproduce the primary text as they rework viduals may be motivated to consume a partic-
and rewrite it, repairing and dismissing unsatis- ular popular culture offering for a host of rea-
fying aspects, developing interests not suffi- sons. The desire for enjoyment and pleasure,
ciently explored” (p. 162). In this way, fan called hedonic motivation, is often considered
fiction gave voice to those who could not affect the ultimate reason for media consumption (Ol-
the source text directly, empowering fans to iver & Raney, 2011). However, recently schol-
transform the source text in ways that were ars have started to investigate motivations for
more reflective of their desires and interests. media consumption beyond pleasure. Some re-
Because of this ability to revise and subvert searchers have suggested people may be moti-
established popular media texts, some scholars vated to use media because of its ability to
still consider fan fiction writing a transgressive gratify higher order needs, such as those spec-
practice (Thomas, 2011). This is particularly so ified by self-determination theory (Ryan &
in the case of slash fan fiction in which two Deci, 2000): autonomy, competence, and relat-
same-sex characters are romantically paired. edness (e.g., Ryan, Rigby, & Pryzbylski, 2006).
Yet, Costello and Moore (2007) contend that Tamborini, Bowman, Eden, Grizzard, and Or-
although fan fiction writers and readers exercise gan (2010) proposed and tested a model that
a kind of power, fan fiction’s influence is not defined media enjoyment as the satisfaction of
often felt beyond the circles in which it is these three needs. They found that media enjoy-
shared. ment could successfully be explained, at least in
While some scholars emphasize the boundar- part, by its ability to fulfill autonomy, compe-
ies fan fiction writers transgress, others empha- tence, and relatedness needs.
size the ones within which they work. Stein and Oliver and Raney (2011) observed that in
Busse (2009) observed that a fan fiction story is addition to the needs of self-determination the-
shaped by the parameters of the media text a fan ory, people may also consume media for more
writer appropriates. And Kaplan (2006) charac- transcendent reasons, such as the desire to seek
terized fan fiction writing as an interpretative insight into the deeper truths and meanings of
act that must balance numerous factors, includ- life, which they referred to as eudaimonic mo-
ing the source text itself, the fan community’s tivation. Bartsch and Oliver (2011) have used
established interpretations of that text, and the the term appreciation to label positive experi-
writer’s personal interpretations of the text. ences with serious entertainment, defining this
 FAN FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR MEANING MAKING 3

kind of audience response as, “an experiential both empathy for the character and the evoca-
state that is characterized by the perception of tion of the fan’s memories, making the connec-
deeper meaning, the feeling of being moved, tion a fan experiences during identification a
and the motivation to elaborate on thoughts and personal one (Oatley, 1999b). In this way, fic-
feelings inspired by the experience” (Oliver & tional narratives provide a psychological space
Bartsch, 2010, p. 76). Such experiences are also in which fans can make sense of their own
often accompanied by mixed emotions and the relevant emotions by allowing them to distance
desire to ponder larger questions such as what themselves from their real lives and consider
makes life valuable and meaningful (Oliver & their emotions through the less personally
Bartsch, 2011). fraught lens of the text (Mar, Oatley, Djikic, &
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Of course, entertainment experiences of he- Mullin, 2011; Oatley, 1999a, 1999b).

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

donic enjoyment and eudaimonic appreciation It is likely that fans often identify or respond
are not mutually exclusive. However, given its parasocially to the characters in their favorite
emphasis on emotional and cognitive invest- texts. Moreover, because fans often think about
ment and its experience of deep meaning, it is their favorite characters outside of media inter-
reasonable to believe that appreciation is often a actions, they likely develop parasocial relation-
key ingredient in the decision to become a fan ships with those characters. These are responses
of a given popular culture text. Further, by that may extend to the reading and writing of
enabling fans to extend and elaborate on not fan fiction, which offers an outlet beyond the
only experiences of pleasure, but also experi- official text to explore parasocial bonds or act
ences of appreciation, fan fiction may be an out identifications with specific characters. Fan
outlet through which they can reflect on a media fiction, then, may be one means through which
narrative’s deeper significance. fans can process the personal connections they
Bartsch and Oliver (2011) cite personal rele- feel to a piece of popular media.
vance as one reason an individual would re-
spond to a media text with appreciation. They The Present Study
explain that personal relevance may be felt
when one relates to media characters in the Okdie et al. (2014) observe that media psy-
context of parasocial interaction or identifica- chologists tend to focus on media’s contribution
tion, responses to characters that may also be to social problems like violence by treating me-
especially valuable when considering the writ- dia as a means for presenting stimuli. However,
ing and reading of fan fiction. Parasocial inter- this emphasis largely neglects how audiences
action is a one-sided interaction with a character understand and derive meaning from popular
(Horton & Wohl, 1956). When an individual media. While prior studies about Mad Men fans
considers a character beyond a discrete viewing provide insight into the ways fans analyze and
situation, their interest can develop into a para- discuss the show, these activities are considered
social relationship (Giles, 2010). Though also the work of affirmative fans. Transformative
one-sided, these relationships are psychologi- fans, on the other hand, are those strongly emo-
cally similar to the experience of real-life inter- tionally invested individuals who respond to a
personal relationships (Giles, 2002). text through creative acts like writing fan fiction
Viewers maintain their sense of self within (Hellekson & Busse, 2014). Thus, the present
the context of parasocial interaction, but this is study examines Mad Men fan fiction to explore
not the case with identification. During identi- the ways fans engage with and make meaning
fication, a viewer adopts the perspective of a from the show.
character and experiences the events of the me-
dia text as if they were happening to him or her Mad Men
(Cohen, 2001). Identification provides viewers
with opportunities for vicarious experiences Mad Men is a critically acclaimed, award-
that they could not access in their real lives. Yet, winning TV series that follows the professional
although the events a viewer experiences are and personal lives of Don Draper and his col-
those of a character, the emotions the viewer leagues at a 1960s-era Madison Avenue adver-
experiences as a result of those events are their tising agency. The show ran from 2007 to 2015
own (Oatley, 1999a). Such emotions arise out of on the American cable network AMC. The
 4 VINNEY AND DILL-SHACKLEFORD

show’s setting enables it to explore a turbulent fiction authors write from the perspective and
period in U.S. history. For example, sexism and explore the thoughts of specific characters?
racism are depicted as established parts of office And, finally, do fan fiction writers use their
culture, even as the feminist and civil rights stories to fulfill their wish to see characters
movements challenged those practices. The successfully achieve desired ends?
show’s mix of complex themes creates a com-
pelling series that has drawn a devoted fan base Method
(Adalian et al., 2012).
Previous studies on Mad Men and its fans Data Collection
have explored how fans make sense of this
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complex TV drama through content analyses of Mad Men fan fiction was collected from two
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

online fan commentary. In one study, Dill- publicly available fan fiction-dedicated ar-
Shackleford and colleagues (2015) analyzed fan chives: the well-established FanFiction.net and
comments in response to blog posts about the the more recently formed Archive of Our Own
show to understand how fans approached and (archiveofourown.org). Both websites collect
evaluated Mad Men’s main characters. They fan fiction for numerous fandoms. However,
found that fans discussed the characters as if FanFiction.net is somewhat restrictive in the
they were real people, assessing them like they content it will allow writers to share, prohibiting
were fully formed personalities whose lives ex- users from posting stories featuring real people
tend beyond what is seen on screen. In addition, or in script format (FanFiction.net, 2008). Ar-
fans used the complex drama to grapple with chive of Our Own, run by the Organization for
their own values and beliefs regarding issues Transformative Works, is open to all forms of
such as what makes a good parent, a good fan-created content and allows fans to share
spouse, and a good person. works in addition to fan fiction, such as art and
Similarly, in a study of online discussions on videos. Although both sites enable readers to
Mad Men fan sites, Webb, Chang, Hayes, leave comments about the fan fiction stories
Smith, and Gibson (2012) found that fans made they have read, FanFiction.net also contains a
sense of the show by stating the reasons for forum where users can interact via message
character behaviors or plot developments, de- boards, adding a social element to the archive.
scribing the characters or their relationships, Stories were collected between mid-July and
speculating about what could happen on the early September 2014. Every piece of Mad Men
show, predicting what will happen on the show, fan fiction available on both FanFiction.net and
and analyzing and interpreting the shows’ plot Archive of Our Own was collected, with the
and characters. The fans in this study also made exception of crossovers, which combine
comparisons between the show and the real the characters and settings of Mad Men with
world, including between the show’s 1960s those of another popular culture text. For exam-
time period and the present day. In another ple, crossovers between Mad Men and the TV
study, Webb, Hayes, Chang, and Smith (2012) shows Supernatural, Glee, and Game of
examined online fan conversations about wed- Thrones are available but were not included in
dings on Mad Men and found that fans often the dataset. Several writers cross-posted their
became so immersed in the show that their fan fiction to both FanFiction.net and Archive
critiques were based on present day values of Our Own, but their stories were only col-
rather than those of the show’s historical con- lected and included in the dataset once. Writers
text. are identified only by pseudonymous usernames
For the present investigation, we coded a set on the sites. Consequently, demographic and
of Mad Men fan fiction to explore the following other details about them are unavailable.
questions: Do fan fiction stories contain content Although FanFiction.net does not allow sto-
that is purely for fun and pleasure, reflecting ries with explicit descriptions of sex or vio-
hedonic motivations? Or do fan fiction stories lence, Archive of Our Own has no such restric-
contemplate various aspects of the show and tions. The inclusion of fan fiction from both
explore what is meaningful and important in archives thus ensured that stories with a wide
life, reflecting eudaimonic motivation? What range of content were analyzed. Both completed
emotions do fan fiction stories explore? Do fan and unfinished stories were collected. The ini-
 FAN FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR MEANING MAKING 5

tial dataset consisted of 340 pieces of fan fiction Table 1

by 167 writers. Three stories were eliminated List of Ranked Concepts Generated by Leximancer
because they were not written in English, leav- of Frequently Occurring Names
ing 337 pieces of fan fiction by 164 writers. Names Count Names Count Names Count
Peggy 5,219 Stan 1,434 Ken 613
Sample Selection Don 3,588 Pete 1,383 Sal 611
Joan 2,975 Lane 1,063 Sally 548
Because the dataset was quite large, it needed Ted 2,180 Roger 804 Megan 473
to be narrowed down to a manageable number Betty 1,760 Ginsberg 691
of stories before it could be subjected to a coded
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content analysis. Therefore, our first step was to

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conduct an analysis of the data with the auto-

mated text analytic software, Leximancer (Lexi- character name, Don, was counted 3,588 times.
mancer Pty Ltd., n.d.). Leximancer analyzes
The name Peggy was highly connected to the
bodies of text to determine the frequency of
names Ted and Stan, meaning these names fre-
concepts within the text and the strength of the
connections between concepts. By examining quently appeared in close proximity to one an-
the major concepts that arise from the text and other within the text. Ted is the character with
the relationships that exist between them, a which Peggy is most frequently romantically
comprehensive overview of the text can be ob- paired in the fan fiction stories. Peggy is also
tained. Although fan fiction writers often in- romantically paired with Stan in several stories.
clude metadata with their stories that could be However, Peggy and Stan also appear in stories
employed for these purposes, the metadata is as friends and coworkers who have a platonic
often incomplete or not provided at all. Thus, relationship like the one they share for the ma-
Leximancer enabled us to take every story in the jority of the show. The name Don often co-
dataset into account while also removing the occurred in the text with the name of his first
issue of researcher bias (Isakhan, 2005). wife, Betty, reflecting the fact that many of the
We ran the data through Leximancer twice. stories with Don featured him in romantic or
The first time we analyzed the entire dataset in domestic situations.
aggregate. The second time we reviewed the On the basis of the findings from the auto-
data for any instances in which a writer wrote mated lexical analysis, the subset of data se-
multiple stories about the same main character lected for coding focused on stories in which
or the same relationship. We then randomly Peggy and Don were identified as the main
selected only one story from each writer focus- characters or in which the romantic pairings of
ing on a given character or couple to include in Peggy/Ted, Peggy/Stan, or Don/Betty were fea-
the analysis. In this way, we ensured that no tured. We relied on the descriptions of the fan
especially prolific writer who was particularly fiction stories provided by their writers to assess
devoted to a given character or relationship which characters and couples each story cen-
skewed the results of the analysis. No major
tered on and made our selections on the basis of
adjustments were made to the software before
this information. To further cull down the data-
running each analysis. In the first and second
analyses, the most popular concepts and the set, we also excluded any stories that were not
most frequent connections between concepts yet complete. In addition, we again examined
were the same. As a result, we do not discuss the data for cases of authors who wrote multiple
the second analysis further. stories and included only one randomly selected
The most salient findings from the lexical story from each writer about a given character
analysis were the most popular characters and or relationship in the subset of data to be coded.
relationships between characters that appeared This left us with a subset of 52 fan fiction stories
in the data. As can be seen in the name concept to code. Peggy was the focus of 19 of the
list in Table 1, by far the character who came up stories, Don the focus of 15, the Peggy/Ted
most frequently in the Mad Men fan fiction was relationship was featured in five, the Peggy/Stan
Peggy. This name was counted 5,219 times. In relationship in six, and the Don/Betty relation-
comparison, the next most frequently occurring ship in seven.
 6 VINNEY AND DILL-SHACKLEFORD

Data Analysis Humorous was coded when a fan fiction

story contained content that was funny.
Trained raters coded the subset of fan fiction
stories. The coding scheme was generated on In addition, because other work on fan fiction
the basis of the psychological theory covered has often focused on expressions of sexuality in
earlier and our knowledge of the focus of and these stories, the coders recorded when a fan
emotions evoked by fan fiction. We relied heav- fiction story contained one or more sex scenes.
ily on Oliver and Bartsch’s (2010) definition of Emotion codes were also included in the cod-
appreciation to generate codes for the cognitive ing scheme. Because appreciation often in-
and emotional aspects of the eudaimonic com- volves mixed affect (Oliver & Bartsch, 2011),
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ponents of fan fiction stories. We also created these codes were used to explore whether
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lists of the terms used in the literature to expli- specific emotions or combinations of emotions
cate both eudaimonic entertainment experiences came up more frequently in conjunction with
and hedonic entertainment experiences and codes denoting eudaimonic or hedonic story
used them to ensure that our codes covered components.
various facets of each experience. Emotions codes and operational definitions
Codes and operational definitions denoting were as follows:
eudaimonic story components were as follows:
Happiness, Sadness, Fear, and Anger were
Reflection/Elaboration was coded when a coded when the specific emotion was ex-
writer used the text of his or her fan fiction perienced by a character or characters in a
story to contemplate or reflect on elements fan fiction story. We selected these four
of or ideas brought up by Mad Men. Such basic emotions based on Oliver and Hart-
stories also provoke thought about the is- mann’s (2010) use of them to explore
sues explored in the reader. This code mixed emotional responses in their quali-
could be further subcoded for Character tative study about appreciation and mean-
Reflection or Relationship Reflection for ingful films.
cases in which the fan fiction writer used Angst was coded when a character or char-
his or her story to contemplate or reflect on acters in a fan fiction story experienced
a particular character or relationship, re- feelings of anxiety, anguish, or uncer-
spectively. tainty, especially about a relationship or
Meaning of Life was coded when a fan sexual encounter. This additional emotion
fiction writer used his or her story to con- was included due its frequent evocation as
sider what makes life meaningful and valu- a descriptor of fan fiction.
able, in a broad sense.
What is Important in Life was coded when Finally, to explore the perspectives taken by
a fan fiction writer used his or her story to fan fiction writers and whether they used their
consider the parts of daily life that are fan fiction to resolve story lines that remained
important and make life worthwhile, such unresolved on the show, we coded for the fol-
as family, relationships, and career. lowing:
Moving was coded when the content of a Character’s perspective was coded when a
fan fiction story was written to move the story articulated a specific character’s
reader by evoking poignant or tender point of view by describing that charac-
feelings. ter’s perspective, including what the char-
acter thinks and feels. This code was di-
Codes and operational definitions denoting vided into subcodes for Character’s
hedonic story components were as follows: Perspective, Female— coded when the
Enjoyable/Pleasurable was coded when a point of view of a female character was
fan fiction story contained content that was articulated—and Character Perspective,
pleasurable or fun, and when the story de- Male— coded when the point of view of a
scribed its characters enjoying themselves. male character was articulated.
 FAN FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR MEANING MAKING 7

Wish fulfillment was coded when a positive ment was 90% or higher. The few discrepancies
desired ending was successfully achieved that existed were resolved through discussion.
in a story— especially in the case of a Subsequently, the remainder of the stories was
relationship. This code was also applied if split in half and each coder individually coded
the outcome of a fan fiction story posi- 21 additional pieces of fan fiction.
tively resolved a plotline that was left
open-ended on Mad Men. Results
Each code was applied on the basis of its Description of Data
presence or absence in a piece of fan fiction. A
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code was assigned if its presence in the story Of the 52 pieces of fan fiction that were
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was obvious and deeper evaluation of the story coded, nearly half were rated appropriate for
was not required to notice it. In other words, if general audiences (25 stories, 48.08%), whereas
the average fan fiction reader would agree that a 15 (28.85%) were rated appropriate for readers
specific code applied to a story, the code was 13 and older, and 12 (23.08%) contained mature
assigned. Both authors coded the data. The cod- or explicit content. Stories were not always cat-
ers initially applied the coding scheme to 10 fan egorized by genre, and at times stories were
fiction stories from the dataset. Interrater reli- tagged with multiple genres, however the cate-
ability for 16 codes was calculated for these 10 gory information available indicated that 15 sto-
stories; Cohen’s kappa ranged from .615 to 1.0 ries focused on a heterosexual relationship.
(see Table 2 for codes and kappas), indicating Nineteen stories did not involve a romantic pair-
substantial to almost perfect agreement (Landis ing. Additionally, there were no slash stories in
& Koch, 1977). In addition, interrater agree- our dataset. This was not altogether surprising,

Table 2
Codes, Their Presence by Number and Percentage of the Total Stories (N ⫽
52), and Interrater Reliability
Percentage
Code n of total Cohen’s kappa
Eudaimonic story components
Reflection/Elaboration 46 88.46 —a
Character reflection 17 32.69 1.0
Relationship reflection 29 55.77 .737
Meaning of life 9 17.31 1.0
What is important in life 16 30.77 1.0
Moving 21 40.38 .783
Hedonic story components
Enjoyable/Pleasurable 28 53.85 .737
Humorous 9 17.31 .615
Sex scene 16 30.77 .80
Emotions
Happiness 20 38.46 .783
Sadness 22 42.31 .80
Fear 12 23.08 1.0
Anger 21 40.38 .80
Angst 27 51.92 .783
Character’s perspective 51 98.08 —a
Character’s perspective, female 39 75 1.0
Character’s perspective, male 24 46.15 1.0
Resolution
Wish fulfillment 11 21.15 .783
a
The number of times each of these codes was present in the stories was dependent on the
number of times the sub-codes listed below them were present. This resulted in constants in
the coding data and undefined kappa coefficients. Thus, only Cohen’s kappa for the sub-codes
was calculated.
 8 VINNEY AND DILL-SHACKLEFORD

given we selected the stories in our sample cations of what it means for these characters to
on the basis of our lexical analysis, which found have a relationship. For instance, in the story
the strongest connections between characters of Broken Pleasure, writer Mrs Don Draper de-
the opposite sex. In addition, according to the scribes the shame and guilt that comes from the
information provided by the writers of the 337 couple continuing their affair, but also their
stories originally collected, over half focused on longing to be together.
heterosexual pairings, whereas only 20% were As Table 2 shows, several fan fiction stories
tagged as slash. also considered what makes life meaningful ei-
ther in a broad, transcendent sense or by explor-
Findings From Coded Content Analysis ing what is important in daily life. The nine
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stories (17.31%) that contemplated the meaning

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Eudaimonic story components. As can be of life explored the value and purpose of life
seen in Table 2, the component of reflection was and how characters might be realizing those
present in the majority of fan fiction in the purposes. For example, in Delilah_Joy’s story
dataset (88.46%). This code was used more Please Please Me, the character Sal compares
frequently than any of the other eudaimonic his life to Peggy’s and realizes that after leaving
codes and, in fact, any of the codes in general. the advertising agency where she still works he
Most of the elaboration in the fan fiction stories has been able to lead a more authentic life.
was about either the Mad Men character or the Furthermore, 16 stories (30.77%) considered
relationship featuring Mad Men characters on the things that make life worthwhile on a daily
which a particular story focused. Most of these basis. These stories examined the aspects of
stories centered on events or character revela- work, family, and relationships that can im-
tions from Mad Men. Thus, the writers used prove one’s life and whether characters were
their fan fiction to grapple with the issues pre- meeting, or failing to meet, those needs. In
sented or alluded to on the show. Moreover, the andibeth82’s If I Were to Lose My Way, Peggy
perspectives supplied by these stories provoked considers how much she misses her old col-
further thought and elaboration on the implica- leagues after she moves to a new advertising
tions of a given story element in the reader. For firm and resolves to do a better job maintaining
example, there were multiple stories that fo- her relationships with them.
cused on Don’s life and identity, especially in Finally, 21 (40.38%) fan fiction stories were
the wake of the revelation that he is really a coded as moving, as indicated in Table 2. These
person named Dick Whitman. In stories like poignant stories often evoked negative or mixed
Some Enchanted Evening by Sillycritter and emotions and caused the reader to feel empathy
The Light of April by Bowles, the character for one or more of the characters. For example,
contemplates who he is and the extent to which My Feet Could Step and Walk by orangesparks
Don Draper is a façade. In one instance, in the presents Stan’s internal monologue as he walks
story Cipher, wildcard47 wrote the following: back to the office from lunch with Peggy while
Don Draper, such as he is, only represents life in the contemplating whether their relationship would
simplest sense. The name’s not a cipher for identity. survive if their firm went under. He wants to
It’s an embossed typeface on a glossy page; a brand voice his concerns to her but is unable to bring
meant to draw allure and leave the buyer wanting at the
peak of satisfaction.
himself to do so. This story moves the reader by
providing an inside look at Stan’s thought pro-
Similarly, several stories reflected on the cess, evoking sympathy for the character’s wor-
complexities of the relationship between the ries about the uncertain future of a relationship
characters of Peggy, who is single, and Ted, that is important to him.
who is married. The couple’s affair ended Hedonic story components. Over half of
abruptly on the show, leaving a great deal un- the fan fiction in our dataset was coded as
resolved between the pair. The stories that fea- enjoyable/pleasurable (53.85%). Meanwhile,
ture this couple, then, seek to explore what nine stories (17.31%) were humorous (see Ta-
might happen if their relationship continued. ble 2). Most of the stories that were coded with
The various futures envisioned for the couple a hedonic story component also were coded
are thought-provoking because of the different with a eudaimonic component. There were only
ways the stories grapple with the moral impli- two stories in which this was not the case. In the
 FAN FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR MEANING MAKING 9

first, scarletts_awry’s enjoyable story Western ever, Peggy’s point of view appeared far more
Union, the Mad Men characters discuss how to often—32 times—than Don’s 14 times. Al-
land an account at their newly opened ad though none of the stories in the dataset were
agency. The light banter between the charac- written in the first person, the characters’ per-
ters captured in this story makes it an enter- spectives were still clearly articulated in the
taining diversion. In the second, the enjoyable third person.
and humorous Shaggy Dog Story, writer Many of the stories expressing Don’s per-
The_Whelk presents a scenario in which a spective find him thinking about his identity, as
woman murders Don for stealing her dog. On can be seen in the excerpt by wildcard47 quoted
Mad Men the dog in question, who is named previously, or his relationship with Betty. In
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“Mr. Peanut” by the fan writer, was presented two different stories, A Girl With a Watering
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

by Don as a gift to his children. However, the Can by rebecca-in-blue and We Were, We Are,
show never explained where Don got the dog. We Will Be by Angearia, Don thinks about
This story answers that question in a funny, if Betty and his children, especially his daughter
violent, way. Sally, and considers ending his marriage.
In addition, 16 of the stories (30.77%) in the In contrast to many of the stories detailing
dataset contained at least one sex scene, as seen Don’s perspective, Peggy’s perspective is more
in Table 2. Every one of these stories was also frequently described in the context of her ca-
coded with at least one eudaimonic component, reer. Many stories see Peggy focused on her
whereas 13 were also coded as either enjoyable struggles as a working woman and her creative
or humorous. Thus, although the sexual encoun- highs and lows as a copywriter. For instance, in
ters in these stories are typically described as Mary Jane Parker’s story Say It Without Saying
pleasurable and fun, the circumstances sur- It, Peggy works on an ad campaign with Don
rounding them tend to lead to the consideration the night before Thanksgiving until she finally
of issues of a more serious nature. arrives at an idea that garners his approval. This
Emotions. A majority of the 52 stories in causes her to muse on how much of her life is
our dataset (90.38%) were coded for at least one wrapped up in her work:
emotion. As Table 2 indicates, over half the
stories contained angst (51.92%), whereas a So much of her happiness these days seemed to bal-
large number also contained happiness ance on her work life; the few accolades she received
on a weekly basis could fuel a month of sitting in that
(38.46%), sadness (42.31%), and anger stuffed room with Stan while putting up [with] every
(40.38%), and a slightly smaller number con- other male presence in the office as well.
tained fear (23.08%). All of the 20 stories that
contained happy content were also coded for at Wish fulfillment. Just under a quarter of
least one eudaimonic story component, whereas the stories (21.15%) had an ending that was
16 were also coded for at least one hedonic coded as wish fulfillment, as shown in Table 2.
component. In 18 of the 20 stories that con- Most of these fan fiction stories took plotlines
tained happiness, an additional negative emo- from the show that had an unhappy ending and
tion also occurred. That is, the majority of these revised or reenvisioned them with a more pos-
stories contained either mixed or negative emo- itive outcome. In Scarlett88’s story The End of
tional content. Camelot, for example, Betty decides to stay
Characters’ perspective. All but one story with Don in the wake of her discovery of his
in the dataset (98.08%) expressed the perspec- true identity as Dick Whitman, instead of di-
tive of at least one character. Table 2 shows that vorcing him as she did on the show.
a majority of the time (75%) the perspective of It is interesting to note, though, the most
a female character was expressed. Meanwhile, a popular wish fulfillment story imagined Peggy
male character’s perspective was expressed in and Stan starting a romantic relationship. Peggy
almost half (46.15%) the stories. In almost a and Stan are the only couple featured in the fan
quarter of the stories (23%) both a female and fiction in our dataset that had not had a romantic
male perspective are represented. Given the na- relationship on Mad Men at the time of our data
ture of our dataset it is not surprising that Peggy collection. Moreover, in contrast to the other
and Don were the male and female perspectives pairings in the fan fiction stories, Peggy and
most likely to be articulated in the stories. How- Stan have a friendly, light rapport on the show
 10 VINNEY AND DILL-SHACKLEFORD

with minimal baggage between them. Thus, in sense, and to provide moving, empathy-
writing about this relationship, fan fiction writ- provoking descriptions of a character’s unique
ers fulfill their desire to see these characters’ perspective on his or her circumstances.
friendship develop into a romance that is unbur- Further, this analysis suggests that even when
dened by past transgressions against one anoth- much of a fan fiction story’s content is moti-
er—something that cannot be achieved by the vated by hedonic enjoyment, fans’ motivations
other couples featured in the fan fiction stories for writing are also, at least partially, eudai-
because of the obstacles the show has created monic. Stories that focus on the relationship
for them. between Peggy and Stan, in particular, fall into
this category, because the light dynamic be-
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Discussion tween the couple, which the writers borrow

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

from the show, make the fan fiction enjoyable.

Eudaimonic appreciation in the context of However, the fan writers often use their stories
narrative fiction is a relatively new area of re- as a vehicle for contemplating what makes a
search. This investigation is one application of good relationship as well. There are many ad-
this emerging idea. It is also, to our knowledge, ditional examples of stories in which the writers
the first study to empirically investigate eudai- explore an enjoyable scenario while also striv-
monic and hedonic motivations in the domain ing to make sense of and derive meaning from
of fan fiction— one means through which fans a specific character, relationship, or plotline
of narrative fiction interact with a story world. from the source text.
This analysis of Mad Men fan fiction pro- In addition, only a small portion of the stories
vides insight into whether fans write fan fiction contained sex scenes. A great deal of scholarly
purely for enjoyment or to explore something work on fan fiction focuses on the reasons sex is
deeper arising from eudaimonic motivation, the frequently included in these fan-written stories,
emotional content contained in the stories, the particularly in slash fan fiction (e.g., Russ,
characters whose perspectives the fan fiction 1985/2014; Driscoll, 2006). Yet, this investiga-
writers adopt, and the wishes for the characters tion showed that even when explicit sexual con-
the writers fulfill through their stories. tent is present in a story, there is at least some
content that attempts to explore something
Eudaimonic Story Components, Hedonic deeper and more meaningful.
Story Components, and Emotions Finally, the fan fiction in our dataset often
featured a combination of positive and negative
One of this study’s most interesting results is emotions or only negative emotions. Bartsch,
that the fan fiction stories analyzed were more Kalch, and Oliver (2014) found that affective
likely to contain at least one eudaimonic com- states mediated the extent to which an individ-
ponent than they were a hedonic component. ual reflected on a given entertainment experi-
Our findings indicate that many of the stories ence. Specifically, affective states that included
were written out of appreciation for Mad Men. negative valence and mixed affect provoked
Oliver and Bartsch (2010) defined appreciation greater elaboration on an experience. Thus, the
as “an experiential state that is characterized by mixed or negative emotions present in Mad Men
the perception of deeper meaning, the feeling of fan fiction may be indicative of the emotional
being moved, and the motivation to elaborate on experiences conjured by the show and the fan
thoughts and feelings inspired by the experi- writers’ attempts to make sense of them.
ence” (p. 76). The majority of fan fiction in our Scholars suggest that when telling stories of
dataset contained at least one of these elements. emotional or tense memories to others, both the
In particular, our findings showed that writers teller and the listener strive to make meaning
used their fan fiction to reflect on their emotion- from the story (Rimé, 2009; Thorne, McLean,
ally and cognitively engaging experiences with & Lawrence, 2004). This same push for mean-
Mad Men, especially when these pertained to ing may happen when a fan has an emotionally
the characters and their relationships. In many resonant experience with a fictional narrative. In
cases, the writers also used their fan fiction to this case, the fan cannot interrogate the media
consider the things that make life meaningful producer about their reasons for creating a spe-
both day-to-day and in a broader, transcendent cific narrative. Moreover, because the emotions
 FAN FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR MEANING MAKING 11

experienced are specific to the individual fan, wise have, or enabling them to explore their
the project of making sense of them is highly own confusions about work and relationships
personal. Fan fiction offers one way for fans to through the eyes of a character with whom they
reflect on and create meaning out of the believe they share important traits.
thoughts and feelings the source text evoked in Oatley (1999b) claims that fiction can en-
them, while also allowing them to do so from courage an individual to either act as a spectator
the perspective of the narrative that evoked or to identify with the protagonist, but that more
those thoughts and feelings in the first place often than not, the narrative operates on a con-
(Oatley, 1999a). Although this may not be true tinuum where the degree to which the individual
for fan fiction written about every source text, identifies or spectates varies. The fact that some
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

we would argue that writing fan fiction about a Mad Men fan fiction stories are written from
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

serious drama like Mad Men, in which much multiple characters’ perspectives, some are
goes unsaid and many events and emotions go written from only a single character’s perspec-
unexplored, offers one opportunity for fans to tive, and in one instance is not written from any
grapple with and attempt to make sense of the character’s perspective, demonstrates the vari-
show’s characters, relationships, and plotlines, ous interests fan fiction writers may have in the
and what their conclusions imply for their own characters about which they write. Thus, we
self-understanding. propose that fan fiction writers’ focus on spe-
cific characters, especially when their perspec-
Characters’ Perspective tives are not represented in the stories, may
indicate that the fan writer has taken a spectator
Our results also indicate that in most of the role in relation to the character and has sympa-
stories analyzed, the fan writer detailed the per- thized with him or her (Oatley, 1999b), which
spective of at least one of the story’s characters. could be seen as a form of parasocial interac-
Peggy was the character whose perspective was tion.
represented most frequently in our dataset. This
was an interesting finding because although Wish Fulfillment
Peggy is a major character on the show, she is
not its star, so we would posit that the fact that We also found that fan fiction sometimes
many fan fiction authors expressed Peggy’s functions as wish fulfillment when fans make
point of view in their writing suggests that many the events they would like to see on Mad Men
of them identify with her character and wish to happen in their stories. These stories typically
continue looking at the world through her eyes involve a romantic relationship that has either
with their stories. Although many writers also gone sour on the show or has not yet happened.
represented the perspective of Don, the show’s In the case of relationships that ended poorly on
protagonist, this happened far less frequently. Mad Men, such as Betty and Don’s marriage,
Studies have found that it is primarily women fan fiction enables fans to envision a better
who write fan fiction (Busse & Hellekson, outcome for the relationship than the one de-
2006). More specifically, research has shown picted on the show. In stories featuring extra-
that the majority of users of the two fan fiction textual romances, like the stories that focused
archives from which we collected our data are on Peggy and Stan embarking on a relationship
female (FFN Research, 2011; Lulu, 2013). In before they did so on the show itself, fan fiction
addition, fans are most likely to identify with offers an opportunity to remix the characters’
characters they consider similar to themselves relationships in whatever ways seem interest-
(Cohen, 2001; Giles, 2002). Thus, it is not al- ing, fun, and logical to the fan. Scholars have
together surprising that these mostly female argued that slash fan fiction arises from the
fans would write fan fiction about and from the desire to increase the intimacy between two
perspective of one of the most modern female male characters (Smith, 2014; Woledge, 2006),
characters on Mad Men. Writing about Peggy’s however, this claim could also likely be applied
experiences and using the opportunity to ex- to many of the extratextual relationships ex-
plore her emotions enables women to vicari- plored in fan fiction, even those that are hetero-
ously walk in this character’s shoes, opening up sexual. Therefore, by maneuvering Peggy and
a new set of experiences they might not other- Stan into a romantic relationship, the fan fiction
 12 VINNEY AND DILL-SHACKLEFORD

in our dataset, which was written prior to the Although fan fiction is unsanctioned story-
end of the show, may represent fan writers’ telling and is often dismissed as derivative and
desire to see the intimacy of their friendship repetitious (Coppa, 2006b), we would argue
intensified and increased through a sexual rela- that writing and reading fan fiction often fulfills
tionship. the same psychological gratifications as con-
Grossberg (1992) observed that suming an adaptation, remake, or reenvisioning
of a well-known, previously produced popular
[p]eople are constantly struggling, not merely to figure media narrative. Regardless of whether they are
out what a text means, but to make it mean something
that connects to their own lives, experiences, needs and
watching the latest big screen reimagining of
desires. The same text will mean different things to Batman’s origin story or reading Batman fan
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

different people, depending on how it is interpreted. (p. fiction, media fans’ attraction to new versions of
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

52) the same stories appears to go beyond mere

name-recognition.
Taken together, our results reveal the many
ways in which Mad Men fan fiction writers, and
Limitations and Future Research
by extension Mad Men fans in general, may
actively interpret this text. Despite the fact that While this study’s results point in interesting
the fan writers were all starting from the same directions, several limitations exist. First, the
source text, the various characters, relation- subset of data subjected to coding was small in
ships, and situations explored in their stories comparison to the larger dataset. Whereas the
demonstrate that they are motivated and en- choice to focus on the subset was intended to
gaged by different elements of the show, come make coding more manageable, coding the en-
to different interpretative conclusions, and wish tire dataset or a larger portion of it would likely
to derive meaning from different aspects of the turn up interesting additional results. Further,
show. In addition, some of the fan fiction stories future studies could focus on especially active
are transformative, enabling the writers to cor- fan fiction writers from a particular fandom and
rect or reimagine the parts of the narrative they the subjects they focus on to determine what
feel Mad Men’s producers got wrong. Thus, this themes come up in a specific writers’ fan fiction
study provides evidence for the strength of TV and how these themes vary between writers.
audiences’ active cognitive and affective en- Such research would likely point to the many
gagement with the shows of which they are perspectives different fans can have about a
fans. single text and the various motivations each one
More and more Western popular culture fea- may have for writing fan fiction about the
tures new remixes or reinterpretations of the source text.
same stories. Superhero stories, for example, Another limitation of this study is the lack of
are often adapted from comic book to movie. attention to the influence of the show’s time
And sequels, prequels, and remakes enable au- period on the fan fiction stories analyzed. Mad
Men’s 1960s setting is thought to be a major
diences to visit the same stories and characters
part of its appeal. The stories we coded did not
over and over again. Much like fan fiction, in
focus a great deal of attention on this aspect of
these cases, a source text creates the parameters the series, which may provide additional evi-
within which a new story is established, but dence for Webb et al.’s (2012) finding that fans
within those parameters new plotlines, addi- relate to the show based on the values of the
tional information about characters, and differ- present day. However, additional research
ent relationships can be explored. This enables should concentrate on writers’ focus, or lack
audiences to repeatedly spend time with the thereof, on period cues and details, both in Mad
characters and plots they love, while also expe- Men fan fiction and in fan fiction based on other
riencing something new. In addition, it provides popular media with a period setting.
fresh opportunities for audiences to ponder their Finally, this study only focused on fan fiction
thoughts and emotions about a given narrative available at two large online fan fiction archives
and its characters, enabling them to look at the and only focused on Mad Men fan fiction. There
story from new angles, discover new meanings, are other places where fan fiction can be found,
and establish new understandings of the text. including personal blogs, show-related commu-
 FAN FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR MEANING MAKING 13

nities, and other fan-dedicated websites that Society, 4, 245–264. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/

would be valuable to mine for data. Also, there S15327825MCS0403_01
are many other entertainment offerings for Coppa, F. (2006a). A brief history of media fandom.
which fan fiction is written, some a great deal In K. Busse & K. Hellekson (Eds.), Fan fiction and
more popular to write for than Mad Men. Thus, fan communities in the age of the Internet: New
essays (pp. 41–59). Jefferson, NC: McFarland &
future research that employs a similar method
Company.
but analyzes fan fiction from other fandoms Coppa, F. (2006b). Writing bodies in space: Media
would be valuable in creating a larger picture of fan fiction as theatrical performance. In K. Busse
what fan fiction authors write about and why. & K. Hellekson (Eds.), Fan fiction and fan com-
Although the content of fan fiction stories munities in the age of the Internet: New essays (pp.
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have previously been analyzed in close readings 225–244). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

by literary scholars (e.g., Kaplan, 2006; Leav- Costello, V., & Moore, B. (2007). Cultural out-
enworth & Isaksson, 2011), to our knowledge laws: An examination of audience activity and
analysis has not previously been conducted on online television fandom. Television & New Me-
the content of a larger quantity of fan fiction. dia, 8, 124 –143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/
Moreover, we are not aware of any previous 1527476406299112
studies that use psychological theory to under- Dill, K. E. (2009). How fantasy becomes reality:
stand the ways fans engage with and make sense Seeing through media influence. New York, NY:
of a popular culture text through fan fiction. It is Oxford University Press.
Dill-Shackleford, K. E., Hopper-Losenicky, K., Vin-
our hope that this study, in taking the first steps
ney, C., Swain, L., & Hogg, J. L. (2015). Mad Men
to close these gaps, will inspire more psycho- fans speak via social media: What fan voices re-
logical researchers to study how fans use fan veal about the social construction of reality via
fiction to make meaning from the popular media dramatic fiction. Journal of Fandom Studies, 3,
texts they favor. 151–170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/jfs.3.2.151_1
Driscoll, C. (2006). One true pairing: The romance of
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