The Mediating Effect of Social Connectedness in the Relationship Between K-Pop Fandom Identity and Mental Health

Jerizza Joy R. Arizabal and Homer J. Yabut

SAGE Open, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, 21582440251369989

Abstract: K-pop has become a global phenomenon that has attracted a loyal group of individuals to join their fandom . Their fanaticism may appear enthusiastic about K-pop idols; however, K-pop fandom membership is also presumed to benefit mental health. In the present study, the researchers aimed to answer if K-pop fandom identity can predict mental health, specifically subjective well-being and depression. Moreover, the researchers aimed to identify whether social connectedness could mediate the relationship between K-pop fandom identity and subjective well-being and depression. The researchers hypothesized that one’s K-pop fandom identity can positively influence one’s subjective well-being and negatively influence one’s depression due to the mediation of social connectedness as a psychological resource. Using data from 425 K-pop fans, the researchers conducted linear regression and mediation analyses. The results revealed that K-pop fandom identity significantly predicted subjective well-being. Furthermore, social connectedness fully mediated the relationship between K-pop fandom identity and subjective well-being. Additionally, K-pop fandom identity also directly predicted lower levels of depression, but social connectedness was not correlated with depression; hence, it was dropped from the mediation model. The implications of these findings and directions for future studies are elaborated on in their respective sections.

Keywords: K-pop; fandom; social identity; social connectedness; subjective well-being; depression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440251369989 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:3:p:21582440251369989

DOI: 10.1177/21582440251369989

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in SAGE Open
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().