Anatomy of a Fanboy

At Test Freaks, D. Salmons provides a psychological analysis of the fanboy phenomenon. Such people, he alleges, are strongly motivated by jealously, a desire for tribal identity, and a yearning to find respect within that tribe. Good old-fashioned cognitive dissonance also plays a role:

It takes a lot to make money in today’s world, and often there is a less than ample amount for all of the choices. If you can’t buy both a PS3 and a XBox 360, then you will have to choose. And when you go online to discuss your wonderful hard won choice, you will naturally want to find that it was a good choice. Otherwise, hey, you can’t make financial decisions.

And if you can’t make good financial decisions, then you are going to be in trouble. The writing is on the wall, you are doomed to be a poor, insolent character that is stuck playing on a console that sucks, or so you are afraid. So you defend your choice, which proves to the world that you are indeed a wise choice maker, and that you and yours will prosper in the economic time to come.

Do you agree with his analysis?

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