What’s a “stan?” It means mega-fan and the slang word has both hot and cold vibes.
Stan is a combination of the words “stalker” and “fan.” It’s a noun and a verb that describes “an extremely or excessively enthusiastic and devoted fan,” according to Merriam-Webster, which added the word to its dictionary in 2019.
- As a verb it could be: “I stan for Adele.”
- As a noun, it’s: “I’m an Adele stan.”
The first mention of stan came from the 2000 song “Stan” by Eminem, featuring Dido about a parasocial relationship (a nonreciprocal relationship with a public figure). The lyrics describe an Eminem fan named Stan who writes the rapper letters that reveal his obsession for him — and his complete unraveling and abuse of his girlfriend when Eminem doesn’t respond.
Beyond its dark origins, stan is used casually to mean a superfan — or somebody whose interests have spiraled out of control.
If your kid is a stan to their favorite actor, athlete or musician, make sure they’re not participating in “stan culture.”
According to Dictionary.com, stan culture is: “the behavior or beliefs of an extreme fandom whose members fervently and blindly support their chosen celebrity or team, often demonizing or reviling anyone or anything opposed to, or not sufficiently devoted to, the object of their worship.”
For example, when a person criticizes a celebrity, their fanbase may try to harass, dox or “cancel” that person, regardless of how the celebrity feels about it.
Is it unhealthy to “stan?”
Fandom can be a positive experience partly because it builds anticipation, according to Lynn Zubernis, a licensed clinical psychologist. “Becoming a fan has often been compared to falling in love, because it can produce similar emotions of euphoria and a strong desire to see or interact with the celebrity or media or activity in some way,” Zubernis wrote in Psychology Today.
A 2014 study published by Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, however, pointed to “narcissistic features, dissociation, addictive tendencies, stalking behavior, and compulsive buying” among people who fan out over celebrities.
When is standom (or fandom for that matter) a problem? When you’re controlled by your feelings.
As Noam Shpancer, a professor of psychology at Otterbein University in Ohio, previously told TODAY.com, people who engage in fandom want to experience self-expression and to feel part of a larger community.
“If you can’t stop talking about something — even when it’s unhelpful or inappropriate — or if you can’t talk about it at all, even when the situation calls for discussion, that might be a problem,” he told TODAY.com.
Shpancer added: “A passion becomes unhealthy when it’s destructive. Ask if you work for your passion — or it works for you.”
