互联网的不断发展为追星提供了更为便捷的方式，一群在现实互不认识的人可以因为喜欢同一个人而自觉结成一个圈子，也就是俗称的「饭圈」。但是在旁人看来，这可能是一件匪夷所思的事情。明明是一个未曾谋面的人，为什么会不计回报地付出呢？当我们追星时，我们在追什么？其背后又有着什么样的心理原因呢？
Fans – short for fanatics – can range from occasional TV show watchers, to football season ticket holders who show up to games in full facepaint.
Fans（粉丝）——fanatics的缩写——可以是偶尔观看电视节目的人，也可以是满脸粉彩的足球季票持有者。
When social psychologists talk about fans, they're usually talking about people who are active participants in the culture and community surrounding their subject of interest.
当社会心理学家谈论粉丝时，他们通常讲的是那些非常关注特定文化、积极参与社群的人。
We become fans for a lot of different reasons.
成为粉丝的原因有很多。
But one big part of fandom is feeling a strong connection with your favorite characters, celebrities, and athletes – their struggles feel personal.
但是粉丝圈的一大特质就是感觉与喜爱的人物、名人和运动员之间有很强的情感联系——那些人的努力很有代入感。
Some psychologists have been trying to understand why it feels so personal by studying how people respond to literature.
一些心理学家试图通过研究人们对文学作品的反应，来理解此种代入感。
There's some evidence that when reading fiction, we "lose ourselves" in the character's experiences – a phenomenon called experience-taking.
有证据表明，我们在阅读小说之时，很容易陷进人物的经历之中——这种现象称为“感同身受”。
In 2012, one small study had a group of college students read stories and share their thoughts about themselves, and the characters in the story.
2012年，一项小型研究在一群大学生身上进行了实验：他们让学生们阅读故事，然后分享对自己以及书中人物的想法。
Students who generally weren't as focused on their own internal thoughts and experiences seemed to more easily step into the main character's shoes, especially if it was a first person narrative.
通常不太关注自己内心想法和经历的学生似乎更容易把自己代入到主角身上，尤其是在小说是由第一人称叙述的时候。
This is related to something called theory of mind: the fact that you can recognize that you and I are two different people with our own motivations and goals.
这与心智理论有关：你能意识到你和我是两个不同的人，有着自己的动机和目标。
There are two main parts to this idea: There's cognitive theory of mind, which is understanding someone else's intentions and knowledge, and affective theory of mind, which is understanding someone's emotional state, basically empathy.
这一观点有两个主要部分：认知心理理论，即理解他人的意图和所知；情感心理理论，即理解他人的情绪状态，也就是共情。
In a 2013 study with a couple hundred participants, scientists found that subjects who read literary fiction with complex characters – as opposed to pop fiction, with predictable characters, nonfiction, or nothing – scored higher in measures of affective theory of mind.
在2013年的一项有数百名参与者的研究中，科学家发现，受试者若是阅读具有复杂角色的文学小说——与阅读通俗小说、人物老套乏味的书籍、纪实文学或甚至什么都不读的人相比——在情感心理理论方面得分更高。
How does this relate to fandom?
这粉丝饭圈有什么关系呢？
Like I said, it makes things personal.
就像我说的，它增加了代入感。
When you're reading about Harry, Ron and Hermione, you can step into their shoes, and empathize with their fears, triumphs, and friendship.
当你读哈利，罗恩和赫敏的时候，你感觉自己变成了他们，对他们的恐惧、成功与友谊产生了共鸣。
The Wizarding World isn't real, but it feels real – and that's important.
魔法世界是虚构的，但是它感觉很真实——这点很重要。
A study from 2015 involving a little over 2000 participants found a bunch of different motivations for engaging in so-called geek culture.
2015年的一项研究调查了2000多名参与者，研究发现，参与所谓极客文化的动机多种多样。
They found that people who are looking for a self-esteem boost, or who are narcissistic, seem to engage in geek culture to play out fantasies that aren't possible in real life – after all, you can't go smashing orcs around town, but you can in D&D.
他们发现，那些想要提升自尊心或者自恋的人，似乎在极客文化中扮演着现实生活中不可能的角色——毕竟，你不能在城里捣毁兽人，但在"龙与地下城"中可以。
But these participants don't just isolate themselves in fantasy worlds, they seem to contribute to the real world in some ways, too.
但这些参与者没有把自己孤立在幻想世界中，他们似乎在某些方面也对现实世界做出了贡献。
The study found that many fans participate in civic activism, like self-help and nationality-related groups, although they seem to be less involved in political activism.
研究发现，许多极客文化的粉丝参与了公民活动，如互助会和民族小组，但是他们似乎较少参与政治活动。
Their research also supported what they called the Belongingness Hypothesis.
这项研究也证实了他们所说的归属感假说。
That's the idea that people use common media – like Star Wars – to build communities and increase their sense of belonging.
人们使用公共媒体——像星球大战——来建立社群，提高归属感。
Another study surveying fantasy sports fans, anime fans, and furries, found a similar trend, and found that people in different fandoms might have slightly different reasons for being fans.
另一项调查梦幻体育粉、动漫迷和兽迷的研究发现了类似的趋势，还发现属于不同粉丝群体的人成为粉丝的原因可能略有不同。
Their research found that people who were anime fans or furries were more likely to participate in their fandoms because it created a sense of belonging, which was less common in fantasy sports fans.
研究发现，动漫迷或兽迷更有可能参与他们的粉丝圈活动，因为这会产生归属感，但是这在梦幻体育粉中不太常见。
The anime and furry communities tend to be ridiculed by society in ways that fantasy sports aren't, so the researchers concluded that fandoms can be a place where uncommon interests can be celebrated and shared.
动漫和兽迷的社群往往会受到社会的嘲笑，而梦幻体育则不然，因此研究人员得出结论，粉丝圈可以是一个庆祝和分享不寻常兴趣的地方。
So fandoms can be great!
所以，粉丝圈也可以很赞！
They're a space where you can be enthusiastic with a whole community of like-minded people.
在这个地方，你可以与一大群志趣相投的人一起分享兴趣与热情。
But too much of any good thing can turn sour.
但是什么事情都是过犹不及。
If you become too attached to the characters or community of a fandom, it can become harder for you to feel empathy for other groups, like other fandoms, or non-fans.
如果你对某个人物或粉丝群体过于执着，要想对其他群体，例如其他粉丝圈、或者非粉丝，产生共鸣，就很难了。
There's a lot of psychological evidence that we feel more empathy for people who are in our communities than for people who are from different communities.
有很多心理学证据表明，我们对来自相同社群的人更有同理心。
And when it comes to competitive fandoms, like sports, there can be negative effects when things don't go our way.
而且比如在体育界，如果面对的是竞争对手的粉丝群，胜利若是不在己方就有可能产生负面影响。
Like, one 2013 study even found that football fans are more likely to make unhealthy food choices the day after their team lost a game.
例如，2013年的一项研究发现，在球队输掉比赛的第二天，足球迷很容易乱吃东西。
Depending on the nature of your fanaticism, psychologists have found that being a sports fan can be good for life satisfaction and self-esteem – called a harmonious passion.
心理学家发现，基于狂热的本质，成为一名体育迷有助于提高生活满意度和自尊心，这被称为和谐激情。
Or it can make you kind of miserable by fostering frustration or hatred of non-fans – called an obsessive passion.
或者，也可能让你感到很痛苦，因为它制造了挫败或对于非球迷的仇恨——也叫强迫激情。
So it's important to be able to step back and see your fandom as part of a larger whole, and not let these communities become your entire world.
所以，不要太过沉迷，后退一步，把你所在的粉丝圈看成世界的一部分，别让这些社群占据了你的整个世界。
Strong social networks and relationships are good for your health and mental well-being, and hobbies and interests are important, as long as they don't veer into unhealthy obsession.
强大的社交网络和人际关系有利于你的身心健康，爱好和兴趣很重要，但是千万不能让其演变成狂热的痴迷。
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