Attraction to the Inanimate: An Exploration of Objectophilia and Fictophilia Through a Psychological Lens

This paper explores objectophilia, the sexual and/or romantic attraction to objects, and fictophilia, the sexual and/or romantic attraction to fictional characters. Fictophilia and objectophilia face much stigma and often raise concerns about the well-being and mental health of objectophiles and fictophiles. Using existing sources on these topics, including research papers, books, websites, films, and other media, this paper seeks to build an understanding of objectophilia and fictophilia with a focus on the question of whether or not they should be defined as mental disorders. Based on the current body of literature and other sources including personal accounts of fictophiles and objectophiles, it seems that it would be more accurate and beneficial to define them as sexual/romantic orientations rather than disorders.Keywords: objectophilia, objectum sexuality, fictophilia, fictosexuality, fictoromance