This study explored the furry identity. Furries are humans interested in anthropomorphic art and cartoons. Some furries have zoomorphic tendencies. Furries often identify with, and/or assume, characteristics of a special/totem species of nonhuman animal. This research surveyed both furries and non-furry individuals attending a furry convention and a comparison group of college students . Furries commonly indicated dragons and various canine and feline species as their alternate-species identity; none reported a nonhuman-primate identity. Dichotomous responses to two key furry-identity questions produced (...) a two-by-two furry typology. These two independent dimensions are self-perception and species identity . One-quarter of the furry sample answered “yes” to both questions, placing them in the “Distorted Unattained” quadrant. This type of furry has certain characteristics paralleling gender-identity disorder. To explore this parallel, the furry typology, and the proposed construct of “Species Identity Disorder” needs further research. (shrink)

Furries are fans of media featuring anthropomorphized animal characters. As part of this interest, most furries construct a fursona – an anthropomorphized animal representation of themselves. Many of the species commonly chosen by fans for their fursonas have stereotypes associated with them. Based on prior research, we hypothesized that furry participants shown profiles of hypothetical furries would be more likely to remember details of profiles with species stereotype-consistent information as compared to those with species stereotype-inconsistent information. Participants showed better memory (...) for profiles whose personality matched (vs. mismatched) the stereotypes associated with their fursona species. We discuss these results in the context of prior research – both on the furry fandom specifically and on the role of schemas in memory more generally. (shrink)

This is a rebuttal to Fiona Probyn-Rapsey’s criticisms of the original furry research conducted in 2006 and published in 2008. Her focus on gender identity disorder misses the main point of the study, which was that it was the first empirical study to collect data scientifically and report findings on the furry fandom, an often misrepresented subculture.