Anime Survey 2016 Preliminary Results

Preliminary Results of the 2016 Anime Survey

In the present paper we report preliminary results from the 2016 Anime Survey. The survey was conducted online and at A-Kon (June 2-5, 2016) in Dallas, TX. We are grateful to A-Kon for hosting us again and supporting this research project. A goal of these preliminary working papers is to provide the fandom with a brief overview of some of the basic findings. The survey included constructs that are not reported here, but will be included in future papers. Our research team is currently working on longer papers describing the results for The Phoenix Papers.

Method and Participants

Paper-and-pencil surveys were handed out to anime fans at A-Kon in Dallas, TX. At the same time we posted this survey online and solicited volunteers from various websites related to anime. After removing participants that did not complete a majority of questions, the present data includes 321 participants from A-Kon and 416 respondents from online (N = 737, 54.8% male (0.7% other); M_age = 25.01, SD = 8.13). Similar to prior years, the majority of respondents were from the United States (86.4%).

Preliminary Results

1. What other interests do anime fans have?

Participants indicated being: artist (33.2%), gamer (73.1%), musician (23.3%), dealer (4.1%), sci-fi fan (50.1%), writer (38.1%), brony (7.9%), and furry (5.7%).

2. Are certain genres preferred more than others?

To address this question we asked participants to rate (1 = Do Not Like to 7 = Very Much Like) a list of 40 different anime genres. Participants also had the option of indicating that they did not know the genre (IDK). We adapted this list from AniRecs (http://anirecs.com/facade/anime-genre-list-with-descriptions/). Some fans noted issues with the list (e.g., some examples were not the best exemplars of the genre, some genres were rather old or misleading, a person may like a particular show but not the genre in general). For example, one participant noted that Shounen-ai and Shoujoai-ai are both terms that imply pederasty and are not terms used for Boy’s Love or Yuri. Another participant noted that Shounen, Shoujo, Josei, and Seinen aren’t necessarily genres, but rather target demographics. Given these limitations, please use caution when interpreting the responses to these genres.

1. Action (e.g., Bleach, One Piece, Freezing)

2. Adventure (e.g., Kino no Tabi, Fullmetal Alchemist, Pokémon)

3. Bishounen (e.g., Ouran High School Host Club, Fruits Basket)

4. Comedy (e.g., Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Full Metal Panic, Lucky Star)

5. Demons (e.g., Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou)

6. Drama (e.g., Darker than Black, Death Note, Monster)

7. Ecchi (e.g., Elfen Leid, Freezing, Zero no Tsukaima, Futari Ecchi)

8. Fantasy (e.g., Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, Inuyasha)

9. Game (e.g., Yu-Gi-Oh, Duel Masters, Bakugan)

10. Harem (e.g., Da Capo, Love Hina, School Days)

11. Hentai (e.g., Bible Black, Mistreated Bride)

12. Historical (e.g., Rurouni Kenshin, Baccano, Shigurui)

13. Horror (e.g., Mnemosyne, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)

14. Josei (e.g., Paradise Kiss, Honey, Clover)

15. Kids (e.g., Digimon, Pokemon)

16. Love/Romance (e.g., Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, Clannad)

17. Magic (e.g., Da Capo, Twin Angel)

18. Martial Arts (e.g., Historys Strongest Disciple Kenshi, Hajime no Ippo)

19. Mecha (e.g., Mobile Suit Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion)

20. Military (e.g., Ghost in the Shell, 07-Ghost)

21. Music (e.g., NANA, Nodame Cantabile)

22. Mystery (e.g., Death Note, Monster, Darker than Black)

23. Psychological (e.g., Death Note, Monster, Code Geass)

24. Samurai (e.g., Blade of the Immortal, Rurouni Kenshin)

25. School (e.g., The Melanchony of Haruhi Suzumiya, Beelzebub, Amagami SS)

26. Sci-Fi (e.g., Level E, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Zoids)

27. Seinen (e.g., Cowboy Bebop, Futari Ecchiand, Rainbow)

28. Shoujo (e.g., Nana, Lovely Complex, Kare Kano, Vampire Knight)

29. Shoujo-ai (e.g., Candy Boy, Simoun, Ga-Rei: Zero)

30. Shounen (e.g., Chobits, Bleach, Bamboo Blade)

31. Shounen-ai (e.g., Junjo Romantic, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi)

32. Slice of Life (e.g., Kino no Tabi, School Rumble, Ai Yori Aoshi)

33. Space (e.g., Planetes, Cowboy Bebop, Mobile Suit Gundam)

34. Sport (e.g., Major s1, Hajime no Ippo, Prince of Tennis)

35. Super Power (e.g., Dragonball Z, Naruto)

36. Supernatural (e.g., Natsume Yuujinchou San, Ao no Excorsist)

37. Vampire (e.g., Hellsing, Rosario + Vampire, Trinity Blood)

38. Yaoi (e.g., Love Stage, Tyrant Falls in Love)

39. Yuri (e.g., Sakura Trick, Aoi Hana, Sasameki Koto)

40. Japanese/Korean Live Action (e.g., Boys Over Flowers, Goong, Playful Kiss)

3. How long will fans stand in line for a signature?

We asked what is the longest amount of time fans have stood in line for a signature. The mean was 42.72 minutes (SD = 95.33). However, this number was rather skewed by a few outliers. 59.7% of fans reported spending no time waiting.

4. Sub or Dub?

Fans asked us to include this question this year. Most fans indicated a preference for subtitled (49.5%), however, equal liking for both was a close second (40.4%).

5. Is there prejudice toward fans who prefer dubbed anime?

We asked if people though dubbed fans were not true fans (I think people who mostly watch dubbed anime are not true fans) on a 7-point scale. In general there isn’t much prejudice (see below). However, when comparing people who prefer subtitled, dubbed, versus those who indicated liking both equally there were differences. Fans who preferred subtitled rated (M = 2.34, SD = 1.80) scored higher than both dubbed (M = 1.50, SD = 1.24) and those who like both equally (M = 1.28, SD = 0.76), F(2, 734) = 48.39, p < .001, partial eta-squared = .12. However, those means are all below the midpoint of the scale.

6. Do fans dislike others and websites who give spoilers?

Yes for other people, but no for websites.

I dislike people who spoil the endings of shows.

I’ll stop visiting a website if they had a spoiler about a show I haven’t seen yet.

7. Is binge watching common?

Yes, pretty common.

I often binge watch anime.

8. Do fans listen to show theme songs?

Yes, they do.

I often listen to theme songs from anime shows.

9. Is there prejudice toward non-fans?

No.

People who don’t watch anime are close-minded.

10. How many figurines do fans own?

11. How many Kigurumi costumes do fans own?

12. How many anime body pillows do fans own?

13. How many anime tattoos do fans have?

14. To what extent do anime fans endorse various paranormal beliefs?

We included these partly because we thought it would be fun (how often are you asked if you believe in the Loch Ness monster?). But we also wondered if some of the beliefs would be related to types of anime favored. Below are the preliminary results. We’ll work on the latter notion in a more detailed paper. Participants rated each item on a 7-point scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree).

1. The soul continues to exist though the body may die.

2. There is a devil.

3. There is a God.

4. There is a heaven and a hell.

5. Some individuals are able to levitate (lift) objects through mental forces.

6. Psychokinesis, the movement of objects through psychic powers, does exist.

7. A person's thoughts can influence the movement of a physical object.

8. Mind reading is possible.

9. Black magic really exists.

10. Witches do exist.

11. Through the use of formulas and incantations, it is possible to cast spells on persons.

12. There are actual cases of witchcraft.

13. Black cats can bring bad luck.

14. If you break a mirror, you will have bad luck.

15. The number “13” is unlucky.

16. Your mind or soul can leave your body and travel (astral projection).

17. During altered states, such as sleep or trances, the spirit can leave the body.

18. Reincarnation does occur.

19. It is possible to communicate with the dead.

20. The abominable snowman of Tibet exists.

21. The Loch Ness monster of Scotland exists.

22. There is life on other planets.

23. Astrology is a way to accurately predict the future.

24. The horoscope accurately tells a person’s future.

25. Some psychics can accurately predict the future.

26. Some people have an unexplained ability to predict the future.

27. Amulets, for instance a specific piece of jewelry, brings good luck.

28. Going through some rituals before an exciting event can bring good luck.

29. The full moon unbalances some people’s mental health.

30. Furnishing according to the principles of Feng Shui balances your environment and thus effects your health and success in a positive way.

31. Ghosts and spirits exist.

32. Angels really exist.

15. Do anime fans express less sexism than a comparison group?

Based on prior discussions with anime fans we included a measure of sexism on this year’s survey. The ambivalent sexism scale (Glick & Fiske, 1996) is a well-validated and widely used measure in psychology (responses made on a 7-point scale, from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The measure contains two subscales assessing hostile sexism (reflecting a classic antagonistic prejudice toward women; e.g., “Women are too easily offended”) and benevolent sexism (reflecting a paternalistic or idealistic view of women but places them within strict gender roles; e.g., “Women should be cherished and protected by men”). We compared the means obtained in the present sample of anime fans with mean responses from 426 college students enrolled in a business course (Wesolowski, Luzadis, & Gerhardt, 2011). Anime fans (M = 3.00, SD = 1.33) reported significantly less hostile sexism than college students (M = 4.15, SD = 0.92), t(736) = -23.56, p < .001, d = -1.74. Anime fans (M = 3.07, SD = 1.06) also reported significantly less benevolent sexism than college students (M = 4.06, SD = 0.83) from the Wesolowski et al. (2011) sample, t(736) = -25.44, p < .001, d = -1.88. We also compared the anime sample to means obtained from a large survey based in New Zealand (N = 12,299) (Huang, Davies, Sibley, & Osborne, 2016). The anime sample did not significantly differ from the New Zealand sample (M = 3.07) on hostile sexism, t(736) = -1.50, p = .134, d = -.11, but was significantly lower than the New Zealand sample (M = 3.88) on benevolent sexism, t(736) = -20.82, p < .001, d = -1.53. Together, the results suggest that anime fans tend to be low on ambivalent sexism.