Metal identities and self-talk: internal conversations of belonging, empowerment, well-being and resilience

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2023

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Rowe, P.

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Herbst, J.

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Book chapter

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Source details - Title: The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music, 2023 / Herbst, J. (ed./s), Ch.10, pp.131-143

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Abstract

Contrary to decades of speculation about the poor mental health of heavy metal fans, newer research (and research conducted with heavy metal fans) has begun to reveal some of the more positive and nuanced outcomes of heavy metal music and culture for well-being (for examples see Dingle and Sharman 2015; Rowe and Guerin 2018). Moving beyond a focus on the music itself, this chapter builds on notions of metal as a protective factor for mental health by exploring three domains of psychosocial well-being through a lens of heavy metal identity formations. Those being stress and coping, belonging and purpose, and certainty of self in an unpredictable world. Concluding comments propose that the internal identity dialogue of metal fans and its interplay with the embodiment of metal identities have significant value for steeling oneself against some of the most pervasive social and emotional threats of modern life.

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Copyright 2023 Jan Peter Herbst

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