4.1 Feeling Human

One common misconception about furries is that they believe they are non-human animals. This definition more precisely describes therians[Note]See Section 7: Therians[/note] than it does furries, who, while regularly representing themselves through the use of anthropomorphic animal avatars known as fursonas[Note]See Section 3: Fursonas[/note] are not necessarily defined by their beliefs about, or identification with, non-human animals.

In nearly every survey of furries that the IARP has conducted, we ask two “yes” or “no” questions. First, we ask furries “Do you consider yourself to be less than 100% human?” Responses consistently show that the majority of furries do not: depending on the sample, responses range from 25-44% agreement with the item.¹ To compare, in a sample of the general American population, about 7% of people agree with this question.²

The second question asks “Would you be 0% human if you could?” While more likely to say yes to this question than to the first question, most furries still say no, with only 38-53% saying yes.³ For comparison, 10% of the general population agree with this sentiment.

Taken together, the data suggest that most furries do not consider themselves to be non-human animals. Many of those who do are likely therian in addition to being furry, and it is the “therian” label, not the furry one, that best describes this phenomenon.

1. See International Online Furry Survey: Winter 2011; International Furry Survey: Summer 2011; Furry Fiesta 2012 and International Online Survey III; Furry Fiesta 2012 and International Online Survey III
2. Anthrocon 2012 and IARP 2-Year Summary
3. See International Online Furry Survey: Winter 2011; International Furry Survey: Summer 2011; Furry Fiesta 2012 and International Online Survey III; Furry Fiesta 2012 and International Online Survey III