(Photo: Mamapop.com)

It's a question that has plagued us during many sleepless nights: What is a brony, really? We already know that fans of the rainbow-ridden My Little Pony series enjoy attending conventions and having public cybersex on Twitter, but little else has been scientifically revealed about the psychology behind the mystical brony culture...until now. (Cue Law and Order cut music.)

The Daily Dot pointed us to a study done by two researchers named Dr. Patrick Edwards and Dr. Marsha Redden, who conducted a survey in an attempt to classify the personality traits of bronies. Their findings may shock you.

Just kidding, they're pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

According to the study, the average profile of a brony is a 21-year-old male student who is heterosexual and single. Compared to non-bronies, bronies are more introverted, agreeable and tend to get "lost" in experiences--like a My Little Pony subculture, for instance!

"Given the MLP theme of “Love and Tolerance” it is not surprising that the Bronies scored significantly higher on the measure of Agreeableness," notes the study.

The study also broke down bronies into several different types:

• The Social Brony (29 percent): "Are dedicated and engaged fans and are publically open about their “Bronyhood."
• Secret Brony (28 percent): "Are dedicated and engaged fans, however, they do not share their “Bronyhood” with family."
• Independent Brony (7 percent): "Do not display dedicated and engaged fan behaviors (not seeking positive social interactions with other Bronies)."
• Hidden Brony (8 percent): "Do not display dedicated and engaged fan behaviors (few outward signs). They are unable or unwilling to share their “Bronyhood” with family and friends and tend to discovered MLP by accident."
• Mixed Brony (28 percent): "The hardest to pin point, they represents a blend or mixture of two or more of the other types."

Judging from these findings, it seems like bronies would make awesome boyfriends/friends, but terrible party hosts.

[shakes mane] [hooves you a bowl of guac and a beer]