Political Fandom: A Social Neuroscience Perspective
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Abstract
Technological advances have democratized the creation of affective communities around political figures, parties, or ideologies, through dynamics similar to traditional cultural fandoms. Social media operate as emotional cohesion platforms. Empathy and affective contagion are consolidated as key psychological mechanisms for group integration and symbolic exchange. This phenomenon, analyzed from a social neuroscience perspective, reveals how emotional identification processes —like brain circuit activation linked to belonging and loyalty— facilitate leader-follower communication. Politicians’ humanization through “influencer” formats strengthens this connection. Fans generate content that reinforces shared narratives, creating an affective ecosystem in which support transcends rationality. Evidence shows that these fandoms’ success depends on members’ emotional synchronization, emotional contagion, and empathy functioning as emotional political mobilization mechanisms in effective communication between members of these communities and how to achieve it.
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