Why Taylor Swift's Fans Love Her So Much

“We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. It’s miserable and magical.”

The lyrics to Taylor Swift's hit song, “22,” ring true for anyone in their early twenties trying to navigate the newfound freedom of a life away from parents, spent at bars or college parties, learning new responsibilities, and wondering, “Where do I belong?”

It’s this sense that “She gets it, she gets me. And these people here, they all get me” that screaming fans feel as Swift walks onstage in full sparkles, and full empowerment. A young country girl with curly hair and a guitar has become a symbol of what they could become—a better, bigger, and enormously popular version of themselves. Swifties grew up with her. She’s been in the spotlight for 17 years, going through all of the struggles and breakups that come with trying to find your place in the world through the turbulent years of early adulthood. She’s been through her country girl “era," her dark pop “era,” times when she wore sundresses and times when she wore leather. Swift-lovers see their life experience mirrored in her songs. They feel understood and validated, like they aren’t alone in the confusion, the loneliness, or the happiness.

Research shows that feeling understood and validated feels good. One daily diary study demonstrated that on days when participants felt more understood by others, they experienced significantly fewer physical symptoms and greater life satisfaction. An fMRI study revealed that the experience of being validated activates the reward and social connection areas of the brain (the ventral striatum and middle insula), whereas the experience of feeling misunderstood turned on areas of the brain associated with negative mood states (i.e., the anterior insula). The researchers also found that feeling validated created feelings of social connection, while feeling misunderstood led to feelings of disconnection.

Swift fans connect through the same feelings of being understood and validated. And there is something very human about uniting around a shared experience and belief system. Think of mealtime, think of church. It feels good to be a part of something bigger than ourselves—a sense of common humanity and of community. A friendship bracelet given to a stranger (as Swifties do) reflects the yogi term namaste, meaning "greetings to you," "I bow to you," or “I see you.” Not only do her fans see their own life experience in her songs, they feel a sense of community with the millions of other believers uniting around the common human experience of growing up, feeling confused, lonely, and free, all at the same time.

Science tells us that this sense of having "a tribe" is one of the most important aspects to a happy life. For example, one study of 120,000 respondents found that closeness to one's community was a strong predictor of personal happiness. Other studies have found that loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and worse for your health than obesity, while a sense of belonging reduces risk for depression, dementia, heart disease, and early death.

The experience of being human brings with it survival-based needs to be seen, understood, and validated by others; and to have a community, a tribe of like-minded people. Fans of Swift are having many of these needs met for themselves as they gather in a stadium and sing along to her songs with thousands of friends and strangers. They might even sing along the words to one of her first hits, "You Belong with Me", belting out the words:

“Can’t you see that I’m the one who understands you/Been here all along…So can’t you see/You belong with me.”