Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

3-1-2024

Journal

Health Communication

DOI

10.1080/10410236.2023.2171950

PMID

36734475

PMCID

PMC10397359

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-1-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

This paper focuses on the development and feasibility of a digitally-based educational intervention, titled Recognize & Resist (R&R), for writers of One Direction (1D) fanfiction on Wattpad.com. The goal of R&R is to reduce the prevalence of social norms that are supportive of sexual violence within 1D fanfiction. 1D fanfictions, or fictional romance stories written by fans of this British boy band, have hundreds of millions of views on Wattpad.com. Formative research has found that social norms supportive of sexual violence are prevalent in 1D fanfictions and that some authors have internalized these norms. R&R aims to motivate 1D fanfiction writers to highlight sexual consent and egalitarian gender roles in their writing. To evaluate the intervention’s feasibility, 15 1D fanfiction authors completed a survey and participated in an interview or focus group. Results demonstrate R&R’s feasibility, with high ratings of its acceptability and demand. Insights from the interviews and focus groups provide suggestions for revising R&R before rigorously evaluating its efficacy. Additionally, results demonstrate the utility of using popular culture as a vehicle for attitude-change regarding sensitive health issues.

Keywords

Humans, Gender Role, Sexual Behavior, Sex Offenses, Social Norms, Attitude, sexual violence prevention, adolescent sexual health, sexual scripts, rape myths, gender stereotypes, mHealth, fanfiction

Published Open-Access

yes

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