New Therian Study (Results!)

It's a different publication though, and the paid one is more in depth. I just impulse purchased a game lol, I'm considering the paid article.

Yeah, I realize that. I just wanted to point it out if anyone was curious on the second one. Sorry. I wasn't trying to start a problem or anything...

I think the "problem" was due to a well intentioned mistake on @Siris's part. You gonna own up to it Siris, or tell me to eat crow if you can show me I'm the one who is mistaken?

(2024-03-22 13:19)Tdae Wrote:  I think the "problem" was due to a well intentioned mistake on @Siris's part. You gonna own up to it Siris, or tell me to eat crow if you can show me I'm the one who is mistaken?

I've not been around much lately as I've been on the recovery from said convention (I left from Dallas Monday morning and due to mechanical issues didn't get home till 5am Tuesday). Admittedly I have not read fully the therianthropy section on the research post but I was speaking with one of the doctors running the study while at the convention. According to them all their information is in the book/PDF so that's what I have to go by.

This is an entirely new study that was published in March of 2024 and it is only accessible through the APA website at this time for $20, unless you can request access through your educational institution. It may be worth a read, but your best use of this resource would likely be to send the link to a therapist instead so they can better understand you.

A number of folks have weighed in on this elsewhere and while most are glad that this study exists, there have been a few individuals who are skeptical of its legitimacy because 1. It's a study that primarily views therianthropy from a psychological standpoint and not a spiritual one, 2. It had an extremely small sample size and 3. Furscience primarily consulted with TG staff and other members for one of their previous studies and took data from therians who identified themselves as zoophiles despite external requests to avoid interacting with them.

To the first point... this was a phenomenological study done by licensed psychologists. They're trying to find a way to understand us from the lens of psychology because it's the only lens through which they can empirically measure this phenomenon. This does not mean that therians or otherkin who have spiritual reasons for their beliefs are invalid - we just don't have a way to measure the quality or veracity of such beliefs. We don't have beliefometers and we never will. What you believe is entirely up to your discretion.

On the second point, they are mistaken - there was a small group of 16 therians they consulted for a general understanding of terminology and the history of the community, but the breadth of those studied ranged from tens to hundreds of therians over the course of several years.

And on the final point, the older folks in our community have a good understanding of what therianthropy is, so it makes sense that they would consult with the people who've been around for decades and not someone who just started using the word "therian" a month ago. And while some therians may have desires the majority do not find morally acceptable, such individuals are still therians - it would be against the nature of how science is done to exclude them regardless of current, past, or future drama. Science does not discriminate - they could be in prison for all they care. Regardless of how any of us feel about that subject, if scientists willingly exclude data because there are certain data points they don't agree with, they're not doing science anymore - they'd be cherrypicking and would ultimately skew the results, even if such a skew is imperceptible for a time. The result of such research has not been nor will ever be anything remotely close to "the majority of therians are zoos and abusers." It is highly unlikely that such study will result in bad press or governmental regulation. That said, this study didn't make any mention of zoophilia either. That is an entirely different phenomenon.

Lastly, I just want to say that if you have no psychological or spiritual reason to identify as a non-human animal but some part of you inside feels like "this just feels like me, it has to be" - cool. Even you can be eligible for a study like this. I'm not gonna question it. Therianthropy doesn't require more of a reason - many of us have our theories but no amount of reason can truly justify that core feeling. That feeling of nonhumanity exists, and that's that. If it's just a phase, you probably won't be in the community in 10 years, but that's fine too. You are unique and your existence is special regardless of what path you take. Life is weird and will likely take you places you'll never expect. You may feel the need to redefine yourself someday, or maybe you'll find that you've come full circle at the end of it all. This is entirely up to you. In the words of Zack Hemsey, "I call my own shots, I won't sit in your throne."