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The Role of Identification in Fictional Character Cosplay

Ahnika H. Boring

Wheaton College (IL)

Comm 444: Special Topics Media & Culture

Dr. Rebecca Sietman

November 5, 2021
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Abstract

Cosplay – or “costume play” – presents an opportunity for media studies to engage with

the audience character response of identification. Using the uses and gratifications perspective as

an overarching guide, this paper aims to synthesize and dialogue with research regarding both

identification and cosplay in responding to two hypotheses: 1) that identification motivates

cosplay and 2) that identification motivates media engagement through cosplay. Research for

identification seeks to clarify and describe its interrelatedness with other forms of audience

response and engagement. Comparing identification to parasocial interaction and narrative

transportation offers insight as to how identification functions and whether or not it could be a

source of motivation or gratification. Existing cosplay research suggests that identification is part

of the cosplay process, rather than a primary motivator. Rather, identity-related motivations for

cosplay are presenting the “secret self” and experimenting with identity. Identification is

considered to be involved in the cosplay process through a “wishful identification to parasocial

interaction” relationship where cosplayers, in pursuing a sense of self, directly imitate a media

character.

Keywords: identification, cosplay, fan studies, parasocial interaction, narrative

transportation, cosplay and identity, wishful identification, uses and gratifications

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The Role of Identification in Fictional Character Cosplay

Cosplay is one of the most visible aspects of fan culture. Short for “costume play,”

cosplay is when fans dress like and role-play fictional characters (Peirson-Smith, 2013; Rahman

et al., 2012). Typically, the characters selected for the cosplay performance are from visual

narrative media such as anime, TV shows, movies, video games, and graphics novels so that

costume details and external behaviors can be more easily assessed. Because there is a common

point of reference, cosplayers are generally expected to act like, talk like, and otherwise embody

whoever they’re visually imitating (Rahman et al., 2012). This logically requires developing a

thorough knowledge of the character through media engagement.

It is this embodiment of a character during cosplay that is particularly fascinating in the

context of media studies because of its similarity to a media character response called viewer

identification. Loosely defined, identification is when a media consumer merges their sense of

self with a character’s perspective, viewing the narrative situation from their eyes (Cohen, 2001).

Cosplaying takes the cognitive aspects of this “merging” and adds a physical component: the

performance. Put another way, cosplayers invite onlookers to view them through the lens of a

fictional character’s identity, and to make that identity convincing, they have to live it out

themselves as the character.  The blatant parallel between identification and cosplay raises the

obvious question of how the two might be related in terms of media effects.

The extent that identification may motivate or otherwise effect the process of cosplay has

not been studied thoroughly, if very much at all, although there is growing conversation on both

overarching topics. Identification has been discussed and clarified independently and among

other narrative and character responses, such as parasocial interaction and narrative transport, in

hopes of gaining practical insights into the phenomenon (Cohen, 2001; Rain & Mar, 2021;
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Ramasubramanian & Kornfield, 2012). Cosplay research is primarily interested in who

cosplayers are (i.e. their personalities) and how they navigate their selfhood and performed

identities (Peirson-Smith, 2013; Rahman et al., 2012; Rosenberg & Letamendi, 2018). Broadly

speaking, research on cosplay and fan culture is more prominent in recent years as fan behaviors

and artifacts (such as cosplaying and fanfiction/art) has become more mainstream.

Aside from the field of communication, the study of cosplay matters not only because of

its prevalence, but also because of its pervasiveness. With the hundreds of dollars fans invest in

their costumes, cosplay is starting to be recognized in the wider economic markets (Peirson-

Smith, 2013). It is also being considered for use in education and social justice movements due

to fan cultures’ history of engagement and social dialogue. In short, understanding how people

relate to and embody stories could help turn cosplaying into a unique communication tool that

has been otherwise untapped.

Using the uses and gratifications perspective as a guide, this paper aims to explore and

synthesize the research on identification and cosplay to begin uncovering how the two are

related. Specifically, the discussion will focus on affirming or denying two hypotheses: 1) that

identification motivates cosplay and 2) that identification motivates media engagement through

cosplay. With its roots in the limited effects era, the uses and gratifications media effects

perspective emphasizes the study of “why individuals use media in the first place” and explores

how media engagement meets audience needs (Sparks, 2016, 77).  Approaching identification as

a potential motivating factor is appropriate here because it maintains cosplay’s essence as active

and performative.

Literature Review

Defining Identification
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Jonathan Cohen, a leading media studies scholar, defines identification as such: “a

mechanism through which audience members experience reception and interpretation of the text

from the inside, as if the events were happening to them” (2001, p. 245). The process is better

described as a viewer merging with a character, particularly in response to a constructed

narrative meant to encourage that kind of reaction. Practically speaking, identification functions

as vicarious experience, whether it is adopting character attitudes, experimenting with different

identities, or going through things that haven’t been experienced (Cohen, 2001). There is

supporting evidence of this phenomenon in the results of a recent neurological study, which

demonstrated that when a person accesses their knowledge about a character they identify with,

the resulting brain activity is similar to when they tap into autobiographical - or otherwise self-

referential - knowledge (Broom et al., 2021).

It is logical to hypothesize that identification would be more likely in situations where the

character is “similar” to the viewer (Cohen, 2001; Ramasubramanian & Kornfield, 2012) – but

this isn’t always the case. In 2018 researchers conducted an experiment to test the similarity-

identification hypothesis, suggesting that “viewers are likely to identify more strongly with

characters of the same age, sex, ethnicity, or that are otherwise similar to them in some

meaningful way” (Cohen et al., 2018, p. 508). They utilized two forms of similarity: story-

relevant (important to the story) and ego-relevant traits (important to viewer identity). With this

framework, they tested whether or not viewers who were similar in sex, nationality, age, and

residence to a particular character experienced higher identification than those who were not

similar in those ways. They found that similarity to these demographic traits did not affect

audience identification. In other words, similarity does not necessarily lead to identification.
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Overall, what contributes to and causes identification is an area that could benefit from

additional, focused research.

Identification can share characteristics with other audience character and narrative

responses, so considerable space has been dedicated to clarifying the differences and exploring

their interrelatedness. As they are relevant to cosplay, it is worth discussing parasocial

interaction and narrative transportation as they relate to identification.

Identification and Parasocial Interaction

Consolidating earlier research, Rain and Mar describe parasocial interaction as “the

illusion of being in a reciprocal social encounter with someone in the media whom the viewer

does not know personally” (2021, p. 5). As opposed to a merging of selves, the viewer is instead

positioned as themselves being attracted to, making judgements towards, and learning from the

media characters (Cohen, 2001). To bring nuance into the study of parasocial interaction,

Ramasubramanian and Kornfield subdivide the concept into 3 categories of responses: parasocial

emotions, parasocial maintenance behaviors, and direct imitation (2012, p. 194).

In their study of U.S. engagement with shojo heroines from Japan, Ramasubramanian and

Kornfield found that viewers can wishfully identify with the character, merging their sense of

self with a media character that serves as a role model (2012). This in turn can encourage

parasocial interaction as outlined by the 3 categories – although not all equally – such as direct

imitation. A key aspect of this research to note though is that it takes place in the context of

cross-cultural media, where wishful identification may be the easiest means of identifying with

foreign content. In other words, wishful identification may not be as common with domestic

content.
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This framework of wishful identification leading to parasocial interaction suggests that

identification can be a motivator for (or otherwise lead to) certain behaviors. It is also important

to mention that this scholarship considers cosplay a form of parasocial interaction, namely, direct

imitation.

Identification and Narrative Transportation

How identification is distinct from narrative transportation is a bit more nuanced because

they both describe a “shift” that resembles the other. Narrative transportation is when a viewer is

“transported into” a story through a blend of focused attention (where the viewer loses track of

their own self), emotion, and imagery (presented through visual media or created in the viewers

mind, such as while reading) (Green et al., 2004; Rain & Mar, 2021). This loss of self-awareness

is similar to the process of identification, but as with parasocial interaction, the difference is in

the viewer’s frame of reference. In narrative transport, the viewer is emersed in and experiencing

the story world as themselves – the shift that occurs is predominately one of setting.

Furthermore, parasocial interactions are often features of narrative transport experience

(Shedlosky-Shoemaker et al., 2014; Slater et al., 2014). Identification, on the other hand,

involves seeing the story world through the character’s perspective, which is a shift in identity

(Rain & Mar, 2021).

Regarding the motivations for pursuing media, Slater et al. emphasize a “fundamental

desire” for an escape from identity maintenance and limitations (2014, p. 451). Narrative

transportation into stories is an easily accessed source for meeting this need, allowing viewers to

“enter into” a world where they are free to come as they are and explore who they are. Building

off of Cohen’s (2001) definitional claim that identification is in response to a constructed

narrative, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider that identification also alleviates social

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pressures on identity because the identity that the viewer merges with is, more or less, scripted. If

identification offers its own form of escapism, it is possible that it could serve as a source of

gratification that incentivizes media engagement.

Identification and Cosplay

Cosplay and fan culture is underrepresented in the field of media studies. That being said,

there are many observational studies that offer firsthand accounts of cosplayers that can be

connected to existing media studies research. One such study surveyed 929 self-identified

cosplayers on cosplaying behaviors, including their motivations for cosplay (Rosenberg &

Letamendi, 2018). 8.2% of the sample responded that they cosplayed because they wanted to

identify with the character, with most of the respondents saying that they cosplayed for fun or as

a means of artistic expression. It is important to note here that “identify” refers to how much they

saw themselves in a given character, which might not necessarily align with the media studies

definition of identification presented by Cohen. Later, when the same participants were asked

why they would choose to cosplay a particular character, over 72% of the participants responded

that it was because they related to internal aspects of the character (such as an aspect of their

personality, or their history). In this case, the “internal aspects” language suggests a response

more closely aligned with an experience of identification because traits like personality and

history are matters of perspective.

This data suggests that identification with a character would not be a direct motivator for

cosplaying. Rather, identification seems to be a means by which expression through cosplay is

achieved. Understanding this process, however, requires first explaining what is being artistically

expressed – or teasing out the various motivations for cosplay.

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As with other fan behavior and media engagement, cosplayers explicitly cite many

motivations for cosplay. Among the most common are showing off skills as an artist, passion for

a character (as opposed to “identifying with”), community involvement, and having the freedom

to explore identity by presenting the “secret self” and otherwise experimenting (Nichols, 2019;

Peirson-Smith, 2013; Rahman et al., 2012). With the focus here being on relating identification

and cosplay, exploring identity through “secret selves” – or the side of a person reserved for

intimate settings or fantasy – and experimentation is of particular interest (Eicher et al. 1991).

When cosplayers perform, they express their secret selves in public as the dressing-up

process gives people a chance to reinvent and experiment with their identity (Peirson-Smith,

2013). The elimination of social boundaries that makes this possible parallels the process of

narrative transportation. Recall that a key motivator for engaging stories is escapism, and when

an audience becomes absorbed in a story they are momentarily relieved of maintaining social

expectations and of the limitations of self (Slater et al., 2014). Cosplay, as performance, is

absorptive, as seasoned cosplayers are known to stay in character even when they aren’t aware of

anyone watching (Pierson-Smith, 2013).

With such a performance demanded from cosplayers though, it isn’t necessarily the

individual cosplaying that’s engaging in “performative narrative transportation.” Rather, it would

be the character they are embodying as the performance merges the sense of self with the

character’s perspective of the story – although unraveling this is a study more suited for

performance theory than media studies. Regarding media studies effects though, perhaps

identification can be found in this process.

Consider Elizabeth Nichols comment on the experience of women cosplayers:

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Women seek to cosplay a variety of elements of their identities. Cosplay is a venue in

which they may be coy, sweet, strong, badass, vulnerable, violent, outgoing, introverted

or intelligent, all in the same weekend. No longer restricted to one image, appearance or

expression of self, women are empowered through cosplay to work creatively,

constructing those images that will best represent their identity. (2019, p. 276)

The pursuit of the “best representation” Nichols mentions is, in effect, a pursuit of an

idealized self where all the self’s significant traits are present and recognized. In a study of how

parasocial relationships with media characters could be a means of self-expansion (a form of

identity exploration usually involving growth), Shedlosky-Shoemaker, Costabile, and Arkin

found that “self-expansion through fictional characters increased to the degree to which those

characters were representative of an individual’s ideal self” (2014, p. 572-573).

Although the study was clear that identification was not responsible for this effect, they

do not seem to have thoroughly considered the “wishful identification to parasocial interaction”

framework discussed earlier. Using Nichol’s quote as a case study: in pursuing the best identity

the women may identify with characters that meet their idealized view of self, and when given

the opportunity to cosplay, feel compelled to imitate them as an artistic identity experiment.

They draw on their knowledge base of the character, and perhaps conduct additional research, to

design the costume and practice the character’s defining features. When it comes time to perform

the character, they find freedom from social norms in a way that can be described as a

“performative narrative transportation.” In this scenario, although not universal, identification is

part of a larger cosplay process as opposed to operating as the sole motivator or end. The

research presented here supports this conclusion.

Summary and Implications

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Using uses and gratifications as a guide, this paper sought to determine how viewer

identification with narrative media characters was involved in the process of cosplay.

Identification is a type of character response where a media viewer merges their sense of self

with a character’s, seeing the narrative world through their eyes (Cohen, 2001). When a viewer

experiences identification with a character they admire and aspire to be like, that is referred to as

wishful identification (Ramasubramanian & Kornfield, 2012). Wishful identification has been

demonstrated to encourage parasocial interaction with characters. Additionally, similarities

between identification and narrative transportation suggest that both can be pursued as a means

of escape from social norms and other aspects of reality.

In a survey, identification appears to have played a more prominent role in character

selection for the cosplay performance than as an initial motivation to cosplay (Rosenberg &

Letamendi, 2018). In nuancing the role of identification, identity-related motivations for cosplay

were considered, namely presenting the “secret self” and experimentation. Both relied heavily on

escaping from social norms and pursuing and idealized image of self

This research was brought together in consideration of two hypotheses. The first, that

identification would serve as a motivator for cosplay, does not seem likely. Audience responses

more appropriately categorized under parasocial interaction or narrative transport are the ones

that tend to inspire fans to cosplay. The second consideration, that identification would serve as a

motivator for media engagement through cosplay, does seem likely however. Identification

seems to offer the same sort of escapism that narrative transportation does. So, viewers may

engage with media to pursue absorption into a story by merging with a character that they

ultimately choose (or are considering) to later cosplay. Additionally, wishful identification may

lead to a parasocial interaction with a character, that requires study of and engagement with a
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given narrative media. It is this parasocial interaction and media content research that relate most

directly to the cosplay process. Further study and empirical research is necessary to confidently

affirm these two hypotheses.

As already outlined throughout the paper, there are several blind spots in media effects

research that would be beneficial to revisit in the future. The causes of identification is one, as

well as the nature between identification and escapism. Bringing performance theory into the

conversation would also be beneficial for describing the relationship between narrative transport

and identification as a performative act rather than just a media response.

What is presented here is a way media studies can engage with fandom studies, and by

extension, other areas of communication research. Cohen cites identification as a means of

bridging media with interpersonal studies, particularly regarding situations where stories are

commonly shared between friends, family, and other social settings like support groups (2001).

Cosplay would be a suitable case study for such a purpose for two reasons: one is that by

performing a character removed from the story’s setting, onlookers are invited to engage with the

narrative through that character’s specific lens. There is also the interaction between cosplayers,

and exploring how cosplayers may mutually reinforce their performances of identification.
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