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The Social Psychology of the Creation of a Sports Fan Identity: A Theoretical Review of the Literature

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Abstract

A gap exists in the current literature on identity formation with regards to sports fans, as the current literature base does not adequately address the creation of fan identity. Instead, social scientific research focuses largely on the effects of fandom, for example, the violence and aggression associated with being a fan. A fan identity, as with any group identity, is beneficial to the individual in that it may provide a sense of community. Following the symbolic interactionism traditions, identity theory (Stryker, 1987) aims to understand why people do what they do, or why they make the choices that they do. Therefore, sports fandom is an appropriate venue for identity theory. Identity creation is discussed in terms of socialization and relational factors.

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... Comme l'indique Coeterier (2002), les préférences pour les monuments historiques s'expliquent par leur rôle dans l'amélioration de l'identité locale, de l'identité personnelle et de l'identité de groupe. Ceci est particulièrement vrai dans le cas des supporters, dont les liens d'attachement émotionnel avec les lieux qui représentent leur club de coeur contribuent à leur propre identité sociale (Burdsey et Chappell, 2003 ;Charleston, 2009 ;Dimmock, Grove et Eklund, 2005 ;Jacobson, 2003 ;Wann, 2006 ;Wann et Branscombe, 1993). Ces liens d'attachement envers le stade peuvent même devenir un motif de fierté personnelle et de sentiment de propriété chez certains supporters (Canter, Comber et Uzzell, 1989 ;Charleston, 2009 ;Wann, 2006). ...
... Elle contribue ainsi au développement de l'identité de lieu, de l'identité personnelle et de l'identité de groupe (Burdsey et Chappell, 2003 ;Coeterier, 2002 ;Dimmock et al., 2005 ;Jacobson, 2003 ;Wann, 2006 ;Wann et Branscombe, 1993). Elle permet aux individus d'exprimer et d'affirmer leur identité, ce qui détermine leur attachement (Moore et Graefe, 1994 ;Moore et Scott, 2003 ;Williams et al., 1992 ;Warzecha et Lime, 2001). ...
... Dans le cadre du sport, Smith suggère que « la force mythique des stades se manifeste le plus clairement aux moments où ces derniers se trouvent menacés par les projets de déplacement du stade, soit pour des raisons d'obsolescence et de sécurité publique, soit pour des raisons financières » (2001, p. 25). Or, comme nous l'avons vu, les supporters ont un attachement au stade car celui-ci revêt un certain nombre de facettes communes au « chez soi » (Charleston, 2009) et contribue à l'identité du visiteur (Burdsey et Chappell, 2003 ;Coeterier, 2002 ;Dimmock et al., 2005 ;Jacobson, 2003 ;Wann, 2006 ;Wann et Branscombe, 1993). Puisque l'enceinte sportive est intimement liée à l'identité des supporters, Bale (2000) affirme qu'un changement de stade s'apparente à la perte d'une partie de soi. ...
Thesis
Pourquoi les nouvelles enceintes sportives n’atteignent-elles pas les objectifs escomptés, notamment en termes de taux de remplissage ? Pour répondre à cette question, étudier le processus d’attachement au club et d’attachement au stade nous semble particulièrement porteur, notamment dans les chaînages conceptuels proximité → valeur perçue → attachement et attachement à l’ancien stade → proximité → valeur perçue → attachement au nouveau stade.Vingt-trois hypothèses sont formulées et testées auprès de 1 446 spectateurs de stade Yves-du-Manoir de Colombes, 668 spectateurs de la Paris La Défense Arena et 328 spectateurs des deux enceintes. Les résultats obtenus confirment la validité des deux chaînages conceptuels testés et offrent des pistes de réflexion managériale pour les professionnels de l’industrie du sport professionnel qui souhaiteraient améliorer le taux de remplissage de leur enceinte.
... There are two levels of sports identity with a team: interpersonal and symbolic (Jacobson, 2003). Sport fans at the interpersonal level are often influenced by their friends, family, or local teams that are tied to a particular area. ...
... People enjoy sports for various reasons, as it can offer them with self-esteem, an escape from everyday life, and entertainment (Jacobson, 2003). Additionally, other factors like economic benefits, aesthetics, and affiliation with family and groups can also contribute to why people love sports. ...
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Sports gambling has become closely intertwined with sports. However, the effect of sports gambling on young adults have not been extensively investigated, even if it is expected that participating in sports gambling could influence young adults' attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the purposes of the current study were a) to investigate the effects of sports gambling on young adults’ attitudes and behaviors and b) to evaluate the quality of life of young adults in Hong Kong. A total of 160 young adults (80 sports gamblers and 80 non-gamblers) in Hong Kong participated in the survey. The results of t-tests revealed the differences between sports gamblers and non-gamblers. Specifically, non-gamblers showed higher levels of sports fan identification, quality of life, BIRGing behaviors, prosocial behaviors, performance tolerance, and purchasing intention than sports gamblers, whereas sports gamblers had higher level of positive affect on sports spectating. Furthermore, the results of the multiple regressions indicated that sports fan identification and positive affect influenced non-gamblers’ purchasing intention, while only sports fan identification had an impact on sports gamblers’ purchasing intention. These results provided an empirical conformation of the effect of sports gambling on sports fan attitudes and behaviors, which contribute to our understanding of the destructive impact of sports gambling on sports fan experience.
... Role identities exemplify the social and relational factors of the individual's selfconcept (Jacobson, 2003;Brewer, 2001). At its core, identity theory portrays that role behavior permits the ability for the individual to possess multiple 'selves' that can develop over time (McCall & Simmons, 1978;Stryker, 1968). ...
... This sub-section also acts as a summary tribute to the primary scholars (Lock & Heere, 2017). Due to the array of diversity and levels of depth involved with team identification frameworks, a heightened amount of controversy and uncertainty has developed amongst scholars, specifically on a social psychological perspective in applying the social identity approach (Tajfel & Turner, 1979;Stryker, 1968) versus identity theory (Trail et al., 2017;Trail & James, 2016;Jacobson, 2003). ...
Research
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The purpose of this study was to highlight the perceptual similarities and differences of sports fans’ team identification towards consumer behavior intentions within professional sports based on generational cohort segmentation (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y). A mixed-methods study was applied, through a quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis process, using three research instruments: a) Team Identification Scale; b) Points of Attachments Index; and c) Measure of Sports Behaviors. The quantitative technique utilized an online survey, using a nonprobability sampling method via convenience sampling approach through deductive reasoning, while the qualitative technique employed a semi-structured interview process. In totality, 305 participants were captured in the survey, while the interviews obtained four members per generational cohort; a total of 12 participants. This study was conducted throughout Toronto, GTA, and southeastern Ontario, Canada in using the Toronto Maple Leafs as the primary team of interest. Overall, three key research questions were explored, in which no statistical significance differences was discovered in RQ1 and RQ2. In RQ3, key findings were discovered towards the seven consumer behavior intentions. The results highlighted a strong connection between the Baby Boomers and ‘traditional’ consumer behavior intentions, Generation Y and the ‘digital’ consumer behavior intentions, with Generation X generally acting as a bridge. Thus, the marketers of professional sports teams can apply these findings into their advertising strategies in order to influence sports fans’ team identification through each generational cohort’s specific interests and desires.
... Sports organisations (or clubs) are a particular type of CSO aimed at providing societal welfare and entertainment through training, events, competitions and collegiality (Branscombe & Wann, 1991;Thormann & Wicker, 2021). In sports clubs, a fan identity to the club provides a sense of community and identification to the individual (Jacobson, 2003). Fans identification with a sports team has, to a great extent, replaced more traditional family and community-based relationships (Branscombe & Wann, 1991;Lee & Robbins, 1995). ...
... This research provides insights into the contributions of a particular CSOs type (football clubs) to sustainability, through training, events, competitions and collegiality (see Branscombe & Wann, 1991;Thormann & Wicker, 2021), and most important through their fan identity (as discussed by Branscombe & Wann, 1991;Jacobson, 2003;Lee & Robbins, 1995). This research confirms the findings on sports club's environmental efforts (see Collins & Flynn, 2008;Mallen & Chard, 2012) and complements them with a more holistic perspective on the four sustainability dimensions and their interconnections, as well as the sustainability adoption stages. ...
Article
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Progress towards more sustainable societies requires moving from reactive responses to immediate problems, towards a more proactive focus on avoiding possible future problems and preparing for potential events. This requires that sustainability is endorsed by a group or opinion leader to be adopted by society. Organisations have been instrumental in fostering sustainability and can be such opinion leaders. During the last 10 years, there has been an increasing interest in organisational sustainability; however, research on civil society organisations (CSOs) has been scarce. Sports organisations (such as football clubs) are a particular type of CSO, and have been adopting sustainability, albeit slowly. Twelve interviews with representatives of Swedish football clubs (from which nine were male clubs and three were female clubs) were conducted between August and November 2021. The data were analysed using Grounded Theo-ry's constant comparative analysis method. The findings show that football clubs have been undertaking several sustainability efforts (e.g. stakeholder collaboration, energy, health, gender and transportation) and have been connecting the sustainability dimensions throughout such efforts. The findings provide insights into the stages of sustainability awareness in football clubs, starting from the social dimension, then the environmental, economic and time dimensions. An important finding from the interviews was the potential that football clubs have in engaging and influencing society through their fans. This research provides insights into the contributions of football clubs to sustainability. Football clubs, and other CSOs, have the potential to become societal change agents and make societies more sustainable through a shared identity.
... In fan-related researches, many authors focused on the outcomes, whether beneficial or harmful that fandoms bring to their worshiping figures. Fans causing negative impact are examples like reports mentioning sports fans having sexual harassing and violent behavior during winning celebrations; [7] on the other hand, fan's support also contribute to economic success: in 2018, the internationally famous boy band BTS has made an amazing contribution to South Korea's economic by pulling 0.3% of their country's GDP, equivalent to half of the annual revenue of Korean Airlines. However, a lot of researches overlooks what are the fundamental reasons that make a fan become a fan. ...
... Under this situation, fans are encouraged by their instincts. [7] As a result, irrational behavior such as riots or stalking might be conducted by the people who developed borderline addictive idolatry. In comparison with the fan that maintains a decent self-identification idolatry, addictive fans performed in extreme feverish. ...
... La teoría de la identidad añade a la teoría de la identidad social el papel de la identidad personal en el proceso de creación de la identidad del aficionado (Jacobson, 2003). Según la teoría de la identidad, el ser humano es un conjunto de identidades, cada una de las cuales ocupa un papel particular en la personalidad del individuo (Stryker, 1968;Burke, 1991;Stryker y Burke, 2000). ...
Article
Este estudio examina el impacto de la Kings League en la comunicación deportiva y su atractivo para la Generación Z en España comparándola con las ligas de fútbol tradicionales. El enfoque de "sportainment" de la Kings League, que combina deporte y entretenimiento con una transmisión digital innovadora, resuena entre el público joven. Sus elementos clave son la espontaneidad, el espectáculo y la participación de figuras carismáticas. La investigación subraya la necesidad de nuevos formatos y métodos de comunicación deportiva para atraer a las generaciones más jóvenes, destacando la importancia de la personalización, la inmediatez y la innovación en el deporte para mantener la relevancia cultural y la participación de la audiencia.
... 92 As football fandom is both a public and private experience, fans identified themselves with teams from their residential areas to create and maintain both their teams and community identities. 93 In Mufulira for example, there were three major football clubs in the 1970s and 1980s: Mufulira Wanderers FC located in Kantanshi mine compound, Butondo Western Tigers FC in Butondo mine compound (both sponsored by the mines), and Mufulira Blackpool FC, located in Kamuchanga township and sponsored by the municipal council. The three clubs competed for Mufulira's football fans and players. ...
... Following the basic tenets of Tajfel and Turner's Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), identification with the team has a positive effect on the individual because it provides a sense of belonging and togetherness. Researches (Jacobson, 2003;Wann, 2006;Yamin, Suryani, Rahayu & Juniarti, 2022;Cardoso & Manoel de Almeida, 2023) have shown that social connection is the number one motive for being a member of a fan club. The individual's self-confidence and sense of competence is enhanced by the positive evaluation of his or her group. ...
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The object of the research was to investigate the relationship between personality traits (activity, aggression/hostility, impulsive sensation seeking, neuroticism/anxiety and sociability) with fan identity and risky behavior (health-risk behaviour and exploratory behaviour). More specifically, we are interested in whether the possession of certain personality traits leads to the development of a fan identity and a tendency towards risky behavior. The aim of the study was to determine the link between personality traits, fan identity and risky behavior of young people in Serbia. The sample consisted of 82 young people of both sexes, living in the Republic of Serbia, mean age AS=22.50, SD=2.91. The following instruments were used in the study: Zuckerman-Kulman Personality Questionnaire which is designed to determine the degree of expression of five basic personality dimensions: Activity; Aggression-Hostility; Impulsive Sensation Seeking; Neuroticism-Anxiety; Sociability, Fan Identity Questionnaire, which measures the degree of identification with a particular sports club and Risk Behavior Scale which consists of two subscales: Exploratory behaviour and Health-risk behavior. The results show that activity as a personality trait is positively related to fan identity, while aggression/hostility, impulsive sensation seeking, and neuroticism/anxiety are related to health-risk behavior, and aggression/hostility, impulsive sensation seeking, and sociability are related to exploratory behavior. People who prefer challenging and difficult tasks, show a lot of energy for work and for the tasks they are given, tend to be generally active and show a stronger identification with the team. Sports and spectatorship are some of the ways in which people who are prone to aggression, impulsive sensation seeking, and neuroticism can satisfy their need for adventure and excitement.
... Identity theory adds to social identity theory the role of personal identity in the creation process of fan identity (Jacobson, 2003). According to identity theory, human beings are a collection of identities, each of which occupies a particular role in an individual's personality (Stryker, 1968;Burke, 1991;Stryker & Burke, 2000). ...
Article
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This study explores the Kings League's impact on sports communication and its appeal to Generation Z in Spain, contrasting it with traditional football leagues. The Kings League's "sportainment" approach, blending sport and entertainment with innovative digital broadcasting, resonates with young audiences. Key elements include its spontaneity, spectacle, and the involvement of charismatic figures. The research underscores the need for new formats and sports communication methods to engage younger generations, highlighting the importance of personalization, immediacy, and innovation in sports to maintain cultural relevance and audience engagement.
... Identity theory adds to social identity theory the role of personal identity in the creation process of fan identity (Jacobson, 2003). According to identity theory, human beings are a collection of identities, each of which occupies a particular role in an individual's personality (Stryker, 1968;Burke, 1991;Stryker & Burke, 2000). ...
Article
Full-text available
This study explores the Kings League's impact on sports communication and its appeal to Generation Z in Spain, contrasting it with traditional football leagues. The Kings League's "sportainment" approach, blending sport and entertainment with innovative digital broadcasting, resonates with young audiences. Key elements include its spontaneity, spectacle, and the involvement of charismatic figures. The research underscores the need for new formats and sports communication methods to engage younger generations, highlighting the importance of personalization, immediacy, and innovation in sports to maintain cultural relevance and audience engagement.
... The theory of social identity shows the process of forming self-concept, individuals will consider social groups and society (Cross & Madson, 1997). Individuals will try to attach themselves to those who considered having similarities in preferences, characteristics, or shared values ( Jacobson, 1979). Membership in a group will affect the formation of an identity that is developed by a person (Hogg &Abrams, 1990) through which consumer groups can maintain their identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). ...
Article
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Various studies have been conducted to investigate self-brand connections in influencing consum- ers to form brand associations. The authors organized and synthesized the literature on self-brand connections to analyze 20 published articles in the last 25 years over-identification of similarities, in- consistencies, investigation of different conceptualizations of self-brand connections, boundary con- ditions of self-brand connections on brand associations, psychological mechanisms of self-brand connections, theoretical foundations of self-brand connections, and methodological approaches of self-brand connections used in prior literature. The objective of this study is to outlines avenues for opportunities in future research based on previous research.
... Early research focused on understanding the relationship between consumer behavior and team identification (Wann & Branscombe, 1990) and developing tools to measure team identification (Wann & Branscombe, 1993;Trail et al., 2003), which means that research on team identification started from vague theoretical foundations (Wann et al., 2001). Researchers brought theories from sociology and social psychology to overcome this limitation to develop theoretical frameworks for exploring team identification (Jacobson, 2003;Trail & James, 2016). Thus, Lock and Heere (2017) argued that previous studies on team identification have utilized social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and identity theory (Stryker, 1968). ...
Article
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The relationship between team identification and sport consumption behaviors is crucial for sports management researchers and practitioners. Given that collective information about the relationship is still inconclusive, this study conducted a comprehensive review of team identification and sport consumption behaviors and explored the relationships and the impact of sport setting, culture, and sample type as moderators. The meta-analysis analyzed data from 75 effect sizes based on 43,608 participants from 52 studies. The results showed that team identification was significantly correlated with sport attendance (r = .47), media consumption (r = .46), sport merchandise consumption (r = .49), and word-of-mouth (r = .60). Sport setting and culture were found to affect the relationship significantly. The current study presents a comprehensive model that synthesizes a broad spectrum of previous studies and offers important implications for investigating sport consumption behaviors and planning sport organizations’ strategies.
... Б. Якобсон считает, что разница между фанатом и болельщиком заключается в степени увлеченности и эмоциональной интенсивности. Фанат -это человек, который думает, говорит о спорте и ориентируется на кумира, тогда как болельщик не смотрит, не читает и не слушает новости о конкретном спортивном событии [6]. ...
Article
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В статье рассматриваются особенности функционирования спортивной фанатской субкультуры,сформировавшейся под воздействием высокой конкуренции в фигурном катании. Актуальностьтемы связана с необходимостью изучения проблемы негативного влияния радикальных фанатов наспортивную действительность, обусловленного тем, что именно радикализированные субъектыфанатской субкультуры проявляют черты негативной идентичности. Цель исследования: изучениеи выявление специфики интернет-коммуникации спортивных фанатов. Для этого были рассмотрены различные приемы негации в сторону Других, а также причины, провоцирующие агрессивное поведение радикального фаната; дифференцированы понятия «фанат» и «радикальный фанат».Методы: включенного наблюдения и контент-анализа. При помощи данных методов получены результаты, позволяющие выделить следующие специфические установки поведенческой модели фаната, которому свойственна агрессивная реакция на Другого: фан-объект добивается результатоввопреки желаниям или ставкам тренера, любые достижения – исключительно личная заслугаспортсмена; профессиональная среда настроена против фан-объекта, эксперты или журналисты,критикующие фан-объект, являются либо коррумпированными, либо некомпетентными; определенное достижение спортсмена возводится в абсолют. Выводы: фанаты конструируют собственную «спортивную реальность», идеальную модель фан-объекта и образ врага на внерациональных, эмоциональных основаниях. Жестко и агрессивно отстаивая истинность своей позиции в пространстве профессиональной деятельности кумира, фанаты используют специальный понятийный аппарат, присваивают себе статус знатока, интерпретируют мнение экспертов сквозь призму собственного восприятия, отрицают их точку зрения, основываясь на убежденности в предвзятости специалиста.
... No caso dos fãs de esportes, a identificação com um determinado grupo proporciona o fortalecimento da autoestima por meio da busca de uma distinção positiva, enfatizando os aspectos positivos do grupo de identificação e minimizando ou menosprezando os aspectos negativos desse grupo (Gwinner & Bennett, 2008). Assim, além dos benefícios da autoestima, a identidade de fã, como qualquer identidade de grupo, é benéfica para o indivíduo por proporcionar um senso de comunidade ao se tornar membro de um conglomerado, formando uma identidade coletiva e proporcionando ao indivíduo um sentimento de pertencimento a um grupo (Jacobson, 2003). ...
... In the case of sports fans, identification with a particular group provides strengthening self-esteem through the pursuit of a positive distinction by emphasizing the positive aspects of the identification group and minimizing or belittling the negative aspects of that group (Gwinner & Bennett, 2008). Thus, in addition to the benefits of self-esteem, fan identity, like any group identity, is beneficial to the individual by providing a sense of community and of becoming a member of a conglomeration, forming a collective identity and providing the individual with a sense of belonging to a group (Jacobson, 2003). ...
... 프로스포츠 선수나 팀이 팬들의 눈높 이에 맞지 않는 불법행위나 비윤리적 사건과 관여할 경우, 팀 관계 자들은 이에 관한 적절한 대응이 필수적이다. 프로스포츠 팬은 자신 이 응원하는 종목에서의 팀과 선수에 관련된 다양한 사안에 대해 관 심이 많고, 팬 사이의 응집력이 강하기 때문에 관계자들의 즉각적인 대응을 요구하는 경구가 많다(Fink et al., 2002;Jacobson, 1979;Kim & Trail, 2010;Koerber & Zabara, 2017;Yoshida et al., 2014). 또한, 기존 언론은 물론 각종 사회관계망 서비스(SNS)와 플 랫폼의 발달로 프로스포츠 관계자의 부정적인 사건이 발생하였을 경우 이를 보도하는 빈도와 강도가 더 높아졌다(Moritz, 2015). ...
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PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to synthetically explore different communication strategy patterns that are dependent on the events and stakeholders, which include professional sports players, teams, and the associations. METHODS Using the Python program, we performed web crawling and machine learning algorithms to analyze news articles for our research analyses. In particular, 696 articles on driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol were gathered and subject to descriptive scrutiny; a total of 782 sentences were selected for the analysis. Also, among the 509 articles on illegal gambling, 484 sentences were analyzed. Moreover, 50 frequently reported words were extracted from these sentences to assess their frequencies through the word cloud method for concrete visualization. Then, the data were mapped in order to systemically understand the communication strategy patterns for each case, which were dependent on the stakeholders and timing of the event. RESULTS The empirical results revealed that in case of unethical events of driving under the influence that were reported in the news, most of the subjects chose an apology strategy immediately, but for illegal gambling reports, the parties involved rarely respond and it was difficult to find specific strategy patterns among the subjects. CONCLUSIONS The present study reveals that when professional sports teams were exposed to transgression, depending on the characteristics of the event and stakeholders, they chose different communication strategies involving fan characteristics for the event and subjects. Ultimately, they chose different strategies dependent on their fans’ involvement.
... 프로스포츠 선수나 팀이 팬들의 눈높 이에 맞지 않는 불법행위나 비윤리적 사건과 관여할 경우, 팀 관계 자들은 이에 관한 적절한 대응이 필수적이다. 프로스포츠 팬은 자신 이 응원하는 종목에서의 팀과 선수에 관련된 다양한 사안에 대해 관 심이 많고, 팬 사이의 응집력이 강하기 때문에 관계자들의 즉각적인 대응을 요구하는 경구가 많다(Fink et al., 2002;Jacobson, 1979;Kim & Trail, 2010;Koerber & Zabara, 2017;Yoshida et al., 2014). 또한, 기존 언론은 물론 각종 사회관계망 서비스(SNS)와 플 랫폼의 발달로 프로스포츠 관계자의 부정적인 사건이 발생하였을 경우 이를 보도하는 빈도와 강도가 더 높아졌다(Moritz, 2015). ...
Article
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PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to synthetically explore different communication strategy patterns that are dependent on the events and stakeholders, which include professional sports players, teams, and the associations. METHODS Using the Python program, we performed web crawling and machine learning algorithms to analyze news articles for our research analyses. In particular, 696 articles on driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol were gathered and subject to descriptive scrutiny; a total of 782 sentences were selected for the analysis. Also, among the 509 articles on illegal gambling, 484 sentences were analyzed. Moreover, 50 frequently reported words were extracted from these sentences to assess their frequencies through the word cloud method for concrete visualization. Then, the data were mapped in order to systemically understand the communication strategy patterns for each case, which were dependent on the stakeholders and timing of the event. RESULTS The empirical results revealed that in case of unethical events of driving under the influence that were reported in the news, most of the subjects chose an apology strategy immediately, but for illegal gambling reports, the parties involved rarely respond and it was difficult to find specific strategy patterns among the subjects. CONCLUSIONS The present study reveals that when professional sports teams were exposed to transgression, depending on the characteristics of the event and stakeholders, they chose different communication strategies involving fan characteristics for the event and subjects. Ultimately, they chose different strategies dependent on their fans’ involvement.
... . 프로스포츠 팬들은 실질적인 응집력의 수준이 매우 높고 즉각적이며 격렬한 반응을 보이는 소비자층이며 프로스포츠팀은 팬들의 욕구(needs)에 따라서 반응하는 경향이 있다 (김광형, 김용만, 2020;김용만, 2016;정윤지, 이준성, 2021;정정희, 김용만, 2013;Fink, Trail, & Anderson, 2002;Jacobson, 1979;Kim & Trail, 2010;Koerber & Zabara, 2017;Yoshida, Gordon, Nakazawa, & Biscaia, 2014 (Billings, Coombs, & Brown, 2018;Coombs & Harker, 2021;Moritz, 2015;Storm & Wagner, 2015 (Brown & Billings, 2013;Sato, Ko, & Kellison, 2018 (박혜원, 박재진, 2011;박태성, 하재필, 2022;방신웅, 황선환, 2014;신선윤, 조광민, 김범준, 2014;양승혁, 2019;양승혁, 강준호, 2019;양승혁, 박상현, 2020;Brown, Adamson, & Park, 2020;Coombs, 2020;Harker, 2019;Van Riel & Balmer, 1997;Wilson, Stavros, & Westberg, 2010 (Brown, & Treviño, 2006;Jamali & Mirshak, 2007;Weber & Kalberg, 2013 (정상오, 남궁진, 이준성, 2022;Branson, 2019;Gouseti & Jackson, 2015;Roberts, 2010 (DeJoy, 1989;Heider, 1958;Kelley & Michela, 1980;Saltstone, 1989 ...
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The purpose of this study is to deliberately theorize and empirically examine unethical issues of driving under the influence (DUI) imputed by professional sports players. We investigate the rationale of communication strategies rendered by professional sports teams and manifold stakeholders arguing that such phenomenon of unethical accidents is contingent on societal transformation. In 2018, Korean society dramatically transformed through the stages of a critical juncture that unpardonably allows the justification of driving under the influence. Accordingly, professional sports players have also been under the strict rule of DUI as a societal transformation concur. According to Coombs(1998), the communication strategies of organizations can be categorized from accommodative to defensive strategies. In general, an accommodative strategy leads to tendencies of positive consequences. In this regard, we hypothesize that professional sports teams and stakeholders have shown propensities of leveraging accommodative strategy relatively over defensive strategy because they believe that professional sports fans perceive DUI as a representative of negative social values and norms. To test this hypothesis, we collected articles that include various sets of communication generated by professional sport team stakeholders directly related to DUI in the Big Kinds database. These sets of communication are reflected by players in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) between the 2012~2013 and 2021~2022 seasons. We strictly preprocess and empirically analyze a unique set of data using Python. More specifically, we observed 3 DUIs between the 2012~2013 and 2016~2017 seasons. During this period, we were unable to find many derivative communications related to the issues of unethical events of DUI. However, on the other hand, we were capable of observing more active accommodative strategies from professional sport team stakeholders related to 4 DUIs occurred between the 2017~2018 and 2021~2022 seasons. Players involved in DUI during this period also had a tremendous level of difficulty in striving to legally come back to the court. This implies that the overall perspectives of professional sports teams and fans changed their social stances on the values and norms as the paradigm of societal transformation on DUI has radically made its transitions. Accordingly, the communication strategies of professional sports teams are not identical depending on the period and timing of the DUI event. Therefore, professional sports teams should be able to understand what are the important issues in society and what will be important issues in strategizing their communication behaviors. They need to be well prepared for social issues in advance and minimize the foregoing risks in the management of the organization.
... In the case of sports fans, identification with a particular group provides strengthening self-esteem through the pursuit of a positive distinction by emphasizing the positive aspects of the identification group and minimizing or belittling the negative aspects of that group (Gwinner & Bennett, 2008). Thus, in addition to the benefits of self-esteem, fan identity, like any group identity, is beneficial to the individual by providing a sense of community and of becoming a member of a conglomeration, forming a collective identity and providing the individual with a sense of belonging to a group (Jacobson, 2003). ...
... This theory helps to understand how CP fans behave and why they behave in certain ways. Therefore, the process of idolatry can be understood as a series of behaviors by fans in order to maintain and develop their fan identity [10]. ...
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CP fandom behaviors or shipping, a growing popular phenomenon among Chinese young adults, refers to the activities of fans who take great satisfaction from the romantic relationships and interactions of their preferred pairings of idols or virtual characters. CP fans are regarded as a special group of fans with unique identities and interaction styles. This grounded theory study was conducted to explore the mechanism of CP fandom behaviors. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with thirty-one Chinese CP fans (twenty-eight females and three males). The antecedents, development, behavioral patterns, and consequences of shipping were identified in a comprehensive model. The reasons for CP fandom behaviors include individual factors (e.g., psychological projection, compensation, and social needs) and external factors (e.g., pop culture and internet environment). The consequences include positive emotional experiences, changed love values, and improved social interaction. CP fandom behaviors can be different in terms of the fans’ degrees of engagement, and the development of shipping can be divided into three stages: exploratory stage, formation and stability stage, and rupture stage. This study contributes to the literature of CP fandom behaviors among young adults in China and proposes the directions of future studies on such topics.
... Authors have extensively used this theoretical framework to investigate the factors affecting the levels of the psychological bond between individuals and their favorite team (Boyle & Magnusson, 2007), to explain fans' reactions resulting from this relationship (Fink et al., 2009), and to develop scales for measuring the identification with a sport team (Heere & James, 2007b). A smaller number of studies (e.g., Jacobson, 2003;Trail et al., 2017) have employed the identity theory (IT) framework (Stryker, 1968), which approaches team identification from the perspective of its social role rather than the psychological processes that connects the fan with their team. For Hogg and his associates (1995), SIT provides a better understanding and elaboration of the socio-cognitive processes underlying identification and takes into consideration the relation of individuals with out-group members in explicating the relation between identity and normative behavior (issues that are not analytically discussed within IT). ...
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The purpose of the present study was to develop a new scale, based on social identity theory, for measuring the levels of fans' identification with their favorite sport team overcoming prior shortcomings reported in several well-established instruments (e.g., connection to theory, certain aspects of psychometric properties). The study employed the item response theory as an analytical framework. Data were collected from two independent studies. Eight hundred seventy-seven subjects participated in the first study and 265 in the second. Participants were viewers of Greek sporting websites of high visibility. Results of the two independent studies revealed that a unidimensional 10-item scale (named Sport Team Identification Scale; STIS-10) assesses a wide range of fans' identification levels with high precision. Moreover, STIS-10 explained a greater amount of variance for basking in reflected glory (R 2 = 47.4%) and attendance intentions (R 2 = 69.8%), compared to existing scales. The findings of the present research can contribute to the existing literature by offering a short, reliable, valid, and theoretically driven instrument to measure the social identity afforded by an individual's identification with a sport team.
... The purpose of the current study was to learn "Who is the spectator in Greece". There are two types of sports fans: those who follow sports actively and those who watch sports passively [23,27,29]. There are many overlapping qualities between fans and spectators, but one important difference is that fans are usually associated with the emotional connection of sports or teams, while viewers are neutral depicters of individuals who consume sports [72]. ...
... Fan identity thus encompasses two aspects. The first stems from the construction of self-identity, which is a private experience aimed at building a behavioral ideal (Jacobson, 1979). The second aspect of fan identity emerges from the theory of social comparison, which claims that people will aspire to be associated with other individuals who are better than they are or at least at their level, in areas where the individual is self-defined or measured (Branscombe & Wann, 1991;Festinger, 1954). ...
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In the modern era of commercialized, mediated, and global football, there is a decline in the importance of the local aspect of sports fandom. Nowadays, through television broadcasts, the Internet, and especially social networks, a fan continuously follows elite football clubs from around the world, which provide an alternative to local clubs. This has created a growing trend of football fan communities known as "transnational fans"-fans of sports clubs from other countries. Contrary to traditional definitions of fandom, the transnational fans are not close to the home stadium and therefore do not take part in the ceremonial ritual of actively supporting the club from the stands. Because of this, they are not seen as part of the club's traditional fans. This means that transnational fans are forced to redefine the image of the football fan and to place special emphasis on an active community and loyalty to the team as markers of devotion. Contributing to the study of the psychology of fandom, this article discusses the characteristics of those fans' communities in Israel and seeks to present an analysis of the construction of their members' social and personal identity. To this end, an anthropological approach was adopted, which involved attending community gatherings throughout an entire gaming season and also included a series of in-depth interviews with community members. The findings of the study illustrate two main premises: the use of personal and community resources for self-determination, and the community and its place in the modern fan typology. Each theme attempts to 2 American Behavioral Scientist 00(0) redefine the individual's role in the social setting and present a dynamic image of football fandom as it will take shape in coming decades.
... These social categories often encourage the formation of community-level groups and networks as individuals are unconsciously or consciously attracted to similar "others" especially if they are part of a minority or other belonging to a lower status group in society (Raffie, 2013). In social identity theory, there are three important interrelated elements, namely identification, categorization, and comparison (Jacobson, 2003). ...
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Humanitarian violence have become a key issue in conflicts that occur, domestically and internationally. This research focuses on how crimes against humanity have occurred in Myanmar, especially in Rakhine-Rohingnya. Furthermore, this study explains how ASEAN’s contribution in urging to resolving the Rohingya ethnic dispute in Myanmar. Moreover, the role of ASEAN in protecting refugees relate to the lost citizenship rights. This study uses deductive explanations and qualitative methods, collecting information through secondary data and interviews with reliable parties.
... For example, marketing researchers and practitioners have long emphasized the role played by the interactions among customers themselves, as they strongly build the customers' group identity within the brand community (Black & Veloutsou, 2017;Luo et al., 2016). In sports and entertainment fields, it was also found that the interactions among fans can accelerate the worship identity development (Jacobson, 2003). ...
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Online communities have become an essential component in the current society, and the sense of virtual community (SOVC) plays a determinant role in affecting the community’s sustainability. Thus, understanding the predictors of SOVC is a topic of interest for both researchers and practitioners. To do so, we take a relational approach and propose a dual-process model in which one-to-one online social interactions facilitate the development of SOVC through the accumulation of two types of social capital. Drawing on a survey of 624 members of an interest-based SNS in China, the findings indicated that both public and private online social interactions influence SOVC, but through different pathways. Specifically, the impact of public interactions on SOVC is mediated by both bridging and bonding social capital, and the mediation effect of bridging is stronger than that of bonding. Meanwhile, the association between private interactions and SOVC is completely mediated by bonding social capital. This study contributes to the SOVC scholarship by identifying the importance of one-to-one online social interactions and explicating the underlying mechanism. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.
... Penelitian tentang identitas pada fan olah raga dan sepak bola sebelumnya pernah dilakukan oleh Jacobson (2003). Jacobson mengritik penelitian sejenis yang mengamati pembentukan identitas fan sebagian besar hanya terfokus pada efek fandom. ...
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Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis identitas Bonek yang terbangun melalui seni mural di jalanan kota Surabaya. Selama ini Bonek adalah stigma bagi fan Persebaya yang suka membuat onar, penampilan yang gahar, suka menjarah, dan berbagai stigma lain yang melekat. Artikel ini juga ditulis untuk mengetahui hal-hal yang tersampaikan melalui pesan yang tersembunyi di mural Bonek, termasuk bagaimana relasi kuasa yang dimunculkan melalui persepsi visual tersebut. Pada penelitian ini, konsep identitas yang digunakan adalah studi komunitas sebagaimana yang dilakukan oleh Anthony Cohen (1985). Sedangkan untuk membongkar relasi kuasa dalam mural menggunakan konsep perilaku suporter sepak bola menurut Spaaij (2008) yang sejalan dengan Michel Foucault (1991). Penelitian ini menyimpulkan mengenai bagaimana mural yang dihasilkan merepresentasikan Surabaya yang semakin padat serta tekanan hidup yang semakin berat, menjadikan Bonek yang sebagian besar kelas pekerja menyandarkan harapannya pada Persebaya. Persebaya adalah harga diri bagi Bonek. Mural Bonek bukanlah sebagai pencitraan mengenai Bonek yang berubah atau alih-alih memberi semangat pada Persebaya. Mural yang dibuat oleh Bonek menyiratkan tentang kelas sosial yang dipandang sebagai liyan dalam konstelasi masyarakat Surabaya yang berdaya menghadapi tekanan. Sebagus apapun usaha yang dilakukan Bonek untuk citra positifnya, tetap saja Bonek akan dipandang pilihan negatif namun di sisi lain membanggakan.
... There are many studies on social support and social identity in sports. (Babiss & Gangwisch, 2009;Campo, Mackie & Sanchez, 2019;Hagiwara, Iwatsuki, Isogai, Van Raalte & Brewer, 2017;Hardin, Genovese & Yu, 2009;Jacobson, 1979;Kang, Jeon, Kwon & Park, 2015;Kim & Kim, 2019;Rees, Hardy & Freeman, 2007;Underwood, Bond & Baer, 2001). These studies are mostly on the relationship between social support in sports and stress, depression, selfesteem, and performance. ...
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This study aims to examine the interaction between the social support perceptions of the football players and their social identity. In the research, a descriptive research model based on the relational analysis technique, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study group of the research consists of 210 male football players. According to their level, 32 of the football players are professional, and 178 are amateur athletes. In the research, the perceived available support in sport questionnaire, and social identity questionnaire for sports were used as data collection tools. After applying the normality analysis in the data analysis, the data analysis process has started. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses created in the research. In addition, moderator analysis was applied to evaluate the variables in the research in accordance with the research model. According to the results of the research model, emotional support and esteem support had a significant positive effect on social identity (β2= 0.01* and β2= .009*), and informational and tangible support did not have a significant effect (β2= .524 and β2=.475). In conclusion, it was concluded that social support in sports has a significant effect on social identity (p< 0.01).
... Although several studies investigated different levels of role identification or attachment, but the impacts of social structures and social interactions on people's behaviors were rarely examined in sports fanship research. One pertinent research by Jacobson (2003) suggested that the relational ties sports fans shared with their family and friends were used to form their role identity as a sports fan, indicating that the process of fan identification was largely relevant to role identification and salience. ...
... Social identity theory (Tajfel, 1970), which is derived from Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory, reveals that people relate themselves to similar features, values, and shared group characteristics (Jacobson, 1979). Social identity reflects an emotional commitment of individuals to a particular group membership, developing a sense of belonging (Tajfel, 1981). ...
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The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of the away game involvement, community identification, and autobiographical memory towards the satisfaction of away games in the context of professional football (soccer). Unlike previous studies, which relied on the participation behavior of fans and their team identification, this study is based on the autobiographical memory of fans who attend away games in Turkey. A total of 204 fans were reached who had minimum one away game experi-ence. The data were subjected to reliability, validity, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling procedures. In order to test the structural model created for the purpose of the research, a questionnaire study was carried out with football fans. Results indicated that there were significant relationships between team identification and away game involvement (R2 = .80, p < 0.01). Additionally, the relationship between away game involvement and autobiographical memory was significant (R2 = .95, p < 0.01). This study showed that autobiographical memory has an important effect on game satisfaction (R2 = .89, p < 0.01), while giving sports marketers a more active role in the engagement process through nostalgic cues. Our study has significant implications as to how well sports team managers design sports marketing and fan engagement strategies based on autobiographical memory.
... Social identity can take various forms because people are members of multiple social groups (Smith & Mackie, 2015). The social identities can take on different importance at different points in time, which means that the group with which an individual is interacting at any given time can dictate his/her current social identity (Jacobson, 2003). Social identity theorists refer to this process as making an identity "salient" (Heere et al., 2013;Reed, 2002), which means the temporal activation or "switching on" of an identity-related conceptual structure in an individual's self-concept (Reed, 2002;Yoo & Lee, 2016). ...
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An individual possesses multiple social identities, and different identities are temporarily salient at different points in time. A particular social identity, such as national identity (NI), may have little or no impact on consumer response unless that identity is activated. This study explores how NI activated through different contexts of international sporting events and associated group-based emotions (happiness vs. anger) would exert differential influence on consumers’ responses to patriotic ads. Further, this study proposes that this effect would vary depending on the corporate origin of the brand, which refers to whether the advertised brand is domestic or foreign. Findings show that (1) while both happiness and anger improve consumer responses to patriotic ads, such an effect is significantly stronger in the happiness-eliciting context, and (2) while NI activation in the happiness-eliciting context has an effect on increasing consumers’ responses to patriotic ads regardless of the corporate origin of the brands, the effect of activating NI is greater for a domestic (vs. foreign) brand in the anger-eliciting context. This study contributes to extending previous findings by applying two important variables—contexts of activating NI that elicit specific group-based emotions and a corporate origin of the brand—that influence consumer response to a patriotic ad.
... Dietz-Uhler and Murrell (1999) believed that the various origins of team identification would influence fans' perceived performance of the team. Jacobson (2003) supposed that the formation and maintenance of team identification can be linked with social and personal identity factors. Underwood et al. (2001), Boyle and Magnusson (2007), and Watkins (2014) suggested that team identification might be caused and enhanced with some service marketplace characteristics, learning from the perspective of brand management. ...
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The research concentrates on the intangible team identification from the distant fans and tries to explore whether a visit to the stadium serve as tangibility and stabilize their team identification. The relation between the distant fans and the home stadium as well as its impact on team identification is also under consideration. Qualitative research was carried out with 15 Chinese tourists as a sample who have been to their favorite European football club’s stadium and attended a stadium tour or a live game. Twenty elements in the visit that influencing the visitors most were recorded. Based on the social identity-brand equity research, four patterns of tangibility are found and confirmed to help foster team identification. The research indicated the distant fans show several differences in team identification from the local fans due to the geographical distance. The visit to the stadium for the locals may be a ritual, but for the distant fans, it is more similar to pilgrimage. Also, the distant fans’ attachment to the stadium is mainly stemmed from team identification, while the locals’ attachment intermingles with their association to their community. More studies on non-local fans are required for a better understanding of this special fans group.
... Previous studies have investigated the sports and their fan bases from sociology and social psychology perspectives. These studies illustrate how fandom can influence identity creation and community forming [1], [2]. However, the relations between the fan bases of sports and American politics still remain unclear. ...
... Besides the individual social identity, every consumer has one additional personal identity [62]. Fan identity expands the theoretical concept of the idea and image that one has about his/herself, integrating it into his/her social life [66]. In terms of cognitive and affective reactions, fan identity can be the mirror of each individual, in light of the incentives associated with the team [55]. ...
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Sports fans and fandoms are special (and extreme) cases of the consumer-brand relationship concept. The implications for markets may be positive (e.g., purchasing merchandizing), but also negative (e.g., ostracizing rivals’ sponsors). Such behavior calls for a deeper understanding, but traditional market research methods tend to fail to capture the underlying unconscious/emotion dimensions. Here, we explore the pertinent concepts (brands, self-construal, consumer-brand relationships, brand communities and tribes, and fan identity) and suggest the participation of consumer neuroscience to tackle the neural and psychological grounds of fan behavior.
... The sports show, as a form of mass communication, engages a large number ofpeople, but it also serves their integration and the exchange of values. Show sports exerts complex influences on the public, from social and psychological to thosebiological aesthetics [9]. The fact that in the sports show a number of elements are unknown frombeginning, and the result is impossible to predict, gives viewers the opportunity to change behavior, to "live" everything that happens, to become part of the event and, at the end, to identify with the winners exclaiming: "I won!" ...
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Sport is an increasingly widespread social phenomenon. Mankind is no longer so good at playing sports, but it excels at watching TV, and sports competitions are the favourite show. Why? Because sports have simple rules, easy to understand and add a special combination to entertainment. It's about drama, suspense, passion. Unlike the art show, in the sports show everything is anchored in reality. Everything happens for real, the plasticity of the images that the show offers sports, the fact that the executions differ attributes to the competition the value of effective means of educating the aesthetic sense. The sports show favourably influences the socio-affective field of the team and the members of a club. It also fulfils the economic function, there is a certain kind of sports show that has a role entertainment. In certain circumstances, sports as a spectacle influences the sphere of politics. The symbiosis of the media-sport is almost perfect, because without media coverage, sport is not as attractive as television, radio and the written press does not satisfy the audience if they do not bring content to their programs especially since society is increasingly dependent on information. Inthe paper "Integration of sport with other industries like entertainment" we try to present the main elements that led to this connection between sports and c, why sports came to be seen as a show and what are the main sports that offer a high degree of entertainment.
... Social identity theories are meant to see the psychology of social relations between groups, group processes, and self-social. According to Jacobson (2003:236), Social identity theory focuses on individuals in identifying and classifies themselves based on their personal and social identities. Henry Tajfel defines social identity as an individual knowledge where a person feels like part of a group member who shares emotion and value. ...
... Although several studies investigated different levels of role identification or attachment, but the impacts of social structures and social interactions on people's behaviors were rarely examined in sports fanship research. One pertinent research by Jacobson (2003) suggested that the relational ties sports fans shared with their family and friends were used to form their role identity as a sports fan, indicating that the process of fan identification was largely relevant to role identification and salience. ...
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Purpose The purpose of this paper was to examine the interplay between sports fanship and brand-related perceptions in the context of sports sponsorship. The effects of sport fans' self-enhancement strategies: Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) and cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) were investigated in response to how sports fans connected themselves to a sponsor brand as well as whether their sponsor brand trust and loyalty were activated. Design/methodology/approach An experiment was designed in the first study to examine immediate effects of team performance and sports fandom on sports fans' connection to the sponsor brand, while an online survey was conducted in the second study to investigate the joint effects of team performance and game venue on sports fans' sponsor brand trust and loyalty. Findings The first study found that both team performance and sports fandom yielded significant effects on sports fans' connection to the sponsor brand. Specifically, sports fans with higher fandom reported the highest connection to the sponsor brand after the success of their favorite team, while others with lower fandom exhibited the lowest connection after the failure of their favorite team. The second study suggested that team performance and game venue yielded both main and joint effects on sponsor brand trust and loyalty. Moreover, fan identification mediated the joint effects of team performance and game venue on both sponsor brand trust and loyalty. Originality/value Replicating the concepts of BIRGing and CORFing into the context of sports sponsorship, this paper verified the vigorous roles of BIRGing and CORFing in influencing sports fans' perceptions of the sponsor brand. Moreover, both theoretical and practical insights into BIRGing and CORFing concepts applicable to examine the impact of the fan–team relationships on sport fans' perceptions of the sponsor brand through sports sponsorship would be generated for the advancement of sports business research.
... However, passive participation stands for the case in which an individual takes the spectator role in a sport game. The researchers stated that being a sport spectator is a passive participation and equal to laziness, as it is not comparable to active participation (Jacobson, 2003). The popularization of sport and its practice by the larger audiences have also contributes the productions of various sport equipment. ...
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The Real Madrid F.C. was one of the few major European football teams that avoided financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the team improved its performance on social media and in terms of web traffic achieving the number one spot for both indicators. This exploratory study sets out to shed light on the strategies used by the club. The methodology uses a content analysis of professional and academic journals, official websites, surveys and managerial reports as well as in-depth interviews with academics, team managers, and fans. Findings reveal that nurturing existing relationships with sponsors and building new sponsorship agreements were key factors to survive in times of crisis. Our research also illustrates the importance of enabling supporters to build consumerbrand relationships and be active in the creation of their own brand experience. Lastly, the study shows that CSR initiatives strengthened the relationship between the club and its followers.
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Virtual reality (VR) is a technology with potential to disrupt the soccer industry as fans are willing to enjoy new home-watching experiences. This study analyzes the concept of a new VR soccer experience by means of using the Extended Technology Acceptance Model to determine the factors that lead to the adoption of VR equipment in the match day. Data was collected and 203 valid responses were obtained. The results were treated using structural equation modeling, which allowed predicting purchase and use intentions. Findings suggest that perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and attitudes are strong predictors of the outcomes. Moreover, the results support the potential of VR and its integration in sports. This study paves the way to further research on this matter and provides several insights and recommendations for sports organizations on how to design their offerings to soccer fandom.
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Sport provides an arena for human flourishing. For some, this pursuit of a meaningful life through sport involves the use of non-human animals, not least of all through sport hunting. This paper will take seriously that sport – including sport hunting – can provide a meaningful arena for human flourishing. Additionally, it will accept for present purposes that animals are of less moral value than humans. This paper will show that, even accepting these premises, much use of animals for sport – including sport hunting – is unacceptable. Nonetheless it will show that there can be acceptable ways of using animals as part of a human’s meaningful life pursuits through sport, albeit in a more limited fashion than many sportspersons currently accept.
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This paper examines occurrences of humour in Twitter-fed celebrity-follower communities. Using a small, one-month sample of the Twitter feeds of 12 British celebrities, we examined political and humorous content of celebrity tweets and the first five responses from their followers. From this preliminary study, we found that the notion of “weirdisation” strongly emerges, together with the new conceptual tool of “shards of humour”.
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בעידן המודרני של כדורגל ממוסחר, מתוקשר וגלובלי, יש דעיכה בחשיבות ההיבט המקומי של אהדת הספורט. כיום, באמצעות שידורי הטלוויזיה והאינטרנט, ובעיקר הרשתות החברתיות, אוהד יכול לעקוב ברציפות אחר מועדוני כדורגל מן הצמרת העולמית כחלופה לאהדת קבוצה מקומית. אפשרות זאת ייצרה מגמה הולכת וגוברת של קהילות אוהדי כדורגל על-לאומיים (transnational fans) – אוהדים של קבוצות זרות. בניגוד להגדרות המסורתיות של אהדה, אוהדים אלו אינם נמצאים בסמיכות למגרש הביתי ואינם לוקחים חלק פעיל בריטואל הטקסי של אהדה פעילה באצטדיון הביתי. בשל כך הם אינם נתפסים כחלק מקהל האוהדים המסורתי של המועדונים. הם נאלצים להגדיר מחדש את תדמית אוהד הכדורגל ומדגישים בייחוד סממנים של אדיקות, כגון קהילה פעילה ונאמנות לקבוצה. מאמר זה דן במאפייניהן של קהילות אוהדים בישראל ומבקש להציג ניתוח של הבניית הזהות החברתית והאישית של החברים בהן. לשם כך, אומצה גישה אנתרופולוגית שכללה ליווי של הקהילות לאורך עונת משחקים שלמה וסדרת ראיונות עומק עם חבריהן. ממצאי המחקר מצביעים על שתי תמות עיקריות: השימוש במשאבים אישיים וקהילתיים לצורך הגדרה עצמית, וחשיבות הקהילה ומקומה בטיפולוגיה של האוהד המודרני. כל אחת משתי התמות מנסה להגדיר מחדש את תפקידו של הפרט במסגרת החברתית ולהציג תדמית דינמית של אהדת כדורגל כפי שעתידה להתעצב בעשורים הקרובים.
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The first comparative historical analysis - local, national and transnational - of the cross-border Central African Copperbelt; a key work in studies of labour, urbanisation and African studies. The Central African Copperbelt, encompassing the mining communities of Katanga (DR Congo) and Zambia, has been central to the study of modernisation and rapid social and political change in urban Africa. This volume expands upon earlier studies of industrial mining, male-dominated formal labour organisation and political change by examining both sides of the border from pre-colonial history to the present and encompassing a wide range of economic, social and cultural identities and activities. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the contributors explore Copperbelt communities' sense of identity - expressed in comic strips and football matches, their precarious and inventive ways of living, their involvement in church and education, and the processes and impact of urbanisation and development, environmental degradation and changing gender relations. A major contribution to borderland studies, in showing how the meaning and relevance of the border to the Copperbelt's mixed and mobile population has changed constantly over time, the book's engagement with communities at the nexus of social, economic and political change makes it a key study for those working in global urban development.
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As a result of COVID-19, the UK imposed quarantine restrictions in March 2020. All large gatherings of people were against the law, and the professional league football ceased. In June 2020, the season was allowed to start again but with strict health policies and procedures in place, minimal backroom staff, regulations for goal celebration, and stringent cleansing routines. A significant part of the measures was no supporters at games. Instead, games were televised and broadcast live on a range of channels. This unique situation has raised many questions about the role of football in supporters' lives and the need for the “football fix” in the weekly routine. This chapter focuses on efforts made by football clubs to create an atmosphere and maintain an identity/attachment with their supporters. To do this, the authors combine principles and underlying theory from identity theory, attachment theory, community theory, and fandom to propose a framework of fan attachment. They apply the framework to the English Premier League to see how all 20 clubs responded to the challenge of maintaining fan identity.
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In social psychology, we need to establish a general theory of the self, which can attend to both macro and micro processes, and which avoids the redundancies of separate theories on different aspects of the self. For this purpose, we present core components of identity theory and social identity theory and argue that although differences exist between the two theories, they are more differences in emphasis than in kind, and that linking the two theories can establish a more fully integrated view of the self. The core components we examine include the different bases of identity (category/group or role) in each of the theories, identity salience and the activation of identities as discussed in the theories, and the cognitive and motivational processes that emerge from identities based on category/group and on role. By examining the self through the lens of both identity theory and social identity theory, we see how, in combination, they can move us toward a general theory of the self.
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As a result of increased geographic mobility, industrialization, and the like, traditional social and community ties have declined. Conversely, sports spectatorship has continued to flourish. We argue that strong identification with a specific sports team provides a buffer from feelings of depression and alienation, and at the same time, fosters feelings of belongingness and self worth. In effect, sports team identification replaces more traditional family and community-based attachments to the larger social structure. Three studies find support for these notions, using basketball and baseball fans. The relationship between degree of team identification and team success was also examined; it was only significant for individuals who identify with teams geographically removed from themselves. Discussion focuses on the positive implications of sports team identification for self-esteem maintenance and the social ties it creates.
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Previous research has demonstrated that people are capable of strategic self-presentation; they decrease the distance between themselves and successful groups with which they have only the most trivial of associations, and strive to increase the distance between themselves and groups viewed negatively as a result of some perceived failure. These two processes, termed basking-in- reflected-glory (BIRGing) and cutting-off-reflected failure (CORFing) respectively, assist in the maintenance of self-esteem. The current study investigated the extent to which allegiance to a group would modify these general processes. In support of the hypotheses, higher fan identification resulted in increased tendencies to BIRG and decreased tendencies to CORF. In contrast, persons moderate or low in identification were less likely to BIRG and showed an increased likelihood to CORF. Discussion focuses on the role of identification with a group in terms of how it moderates coping with threats to an identity and its impact on self-esteem.
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The tendency to "bask in reflected glory" (BIRG) by publicly announcing one's associations with successful others was investigated in 3 field experiments with more than 300 university students. All 3 studies showed this effect to occur even though the person striving to bask in the glory of a successful source was not involved in the cause of the source's success. Exp I demonstrated the BIRG phenomenon by showing a greater tendency for university students to wear school-identifying apparel after their school's football team had been victorious than nonvictorious. Exps II and III replicated this effect by showing that students used the pronoun we more when describing victory than a nonvictory of their school's football team. A model was developed asserting that the BIRG response represents an attempt to enhance one's public image. Exps II and III indicated, in support of this assertion, that the tendency to proclaim a connection with a positive source was strongest when one's public image was threatened. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Two studies examined the effect of game outcome on sports fans' estimates of the team's as well as their own future performance. Consistent with social identity theory, it was expected that Ss for whom fanship was an important identity would respond to team success and failure as personal success and failure. Ss watched a live basketball game; then, in the context of a 2nd, unrelated experiment, Ss estimated their own performance at several tasks. Results indicated that fans' mood and self-esteem were affected by game outcome. More important, fans' estimates of both the team's and their own future performance were significantly better in the win than in the loss condition. Furthermore, path analyses revealed that changes in self-esteem but not mood played a mediational role in fans' estimates of both team and their own future performance. In addition, comparisons with conditions of personal success and failure indicated that team outcome and personal outcome had similar effects on fans' estimates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Two image-maintenance processes by which people manipulate their association with others were tested: the tendency to bask in reflected glory as a means of increasing one's association with successful others and the tendency to cut off reflected failure as a means of decreasing one's association with unsuccessful others. 102 undergraduates were initially involved in a group task and were then assigned to 1 of 3 group-performance feedback conditions: failure, no information, or success. Self-report and behavioral (taking and wearing of team badges) dependent measures of distancing showed that Ss in the failure group manifested less association with their group than did Ss in the no-information feedback and success groups; there was a tendency on behavioral but not self-report measures for Ss in the success group to manifest more association with their group than for Ss in the no-information feedback group. Therefore, more support was found for the cutting-off-reflected-failure process than for the basking-in-reflected-glory process as an image-maintenance tactic. Because Ss truly identified with their group's relative sense of failure or success, it is suggested that it was this identification process that appeared to have driven Ss' distancing behaviors in relation to their groups. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The present study examined the extent to which childhood play activities predict future sport participation by women. Eighty-four college women (40 Division III varsity athletes and 44 nonathletes) at a predominantly White liberal arts school in the Southwest completed a questionnaire that measured their adult experiences with sports as well as their childhood play activities. The results revealed that playing with masculine (rather than feminine) toys and games, playing in predominantly male or mixed-gender groups, and being considered a tomboy distinguished between women who later became college athletes and those who did not. These findings suggest that childhood play activities should be considered, along with other agents of socialization (i.e., family, peers, coaches), as important factors in predicting future sport participation by females.
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Identity theory and social identity theory are two remarkably similar perspectives on the dynamic mediation of the socially constructed self between individual behavior and social structure. Yet there is almost no systematic communication between these two perspectivies; they occupy parallel bur separate universes. This article describes both theories, summarizes their similarities, critically discusses their differences and outlines some research directions. Against a background of metatheoretical similarity, we find marked differences in terms of 1) level of analysis, 2) the role of intergroup behavior, 3) the relationship between roles and groups, and 4) salience of social context and identity. Differences can be traced largely to the microsociological roots of identity theory and the psychological roots of social identity theory. Identiy theory may be more effective in dealing with chronic identities and with interpersonal social interaction, while social identity theory may be more useful in exploring intergroup dimensions and in specifying the sociocognitive generative details of identity dynamics.
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Self and identity have been important yet volatile notions in psychology since its formative years as a scientific discipline. Recently, psychologists and other social scientists have begun to develop and refine the conceptual and empirical tools for studying the complex nature of self. This volume presents a critical analysis of fundamental issues in the scientific study of self and identity. These chapters go much farther than merely taking stock of recent scientific progress. World-class social scientists from psychology, sociology and anthropology present new and contrasting perspectives on these fundamental issues. Topics include the personal versus social nature of self and identity, multiplicity of selves versus unity of identity, and the societal, cultural, and historical formation and expression of selves. These creative contributions provide new insights into the major issues involved in understanding self and identity. As the first volume in the Rutgers Series on Self and Social Identity, the book sets the stage for a productive second century of scientific analysis and heightened understanding of self and identity. Scholars and advanced students in the social sciences will find this highly informative and provocative reading. Dr. Richard D. Ashmore is a professor and Dr. Lee Jussim is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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The current study proposes and tests a structural model of fan satisfaction with attending a sporting event. Specifically, three cognitive antecedents (expectancy disconfirmation, team identification, quality of opponent) are related to two affective states (enjoyment, basking in reflected glory) which are, in turn, related directly to satisfaction judgments in a recursive model. Two-stage sampling was used to collect data from 232 individuals attending one of four women's basketball games at a major Division I-A university. The hypothesized model performed better than two alternative models and was further refined through a series of hierarchical model comparisons. The final model is supportive of a disconfirmation-affect-satisfaction hierarchy. In particular, team identification was found to have the dominant influence on affect and enjoyment had the dominant influence on fan satisfaction.
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Examination of idiosyncratic sports rituals engaged in by viewers of televised sports revealed complex patterns of negotiation and participation in the televised events. In addition to being well-recognized tools for defining group membership, personal rituals revealed the creation of multistranded connections between fans and teams or players, despite separation by an electronic wall. Personal rituals revealed a balancing of the need for suspense with a need for reassurance, and extended to superstitions and part-play/part-serious efforts to influence game outcome. Exploration of private sports-viewer rituals illuminates the ways individuals alter their experiences of televised sports in order to gain social and cultural empowerment.
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Employing a uses and gratifications paradigm, we expected that audience experience with televised sports would vary on the basis of fanship, with fans having a qualitatively different, deeper, and more textured set of expectations and responses than nonfans. Fans were expected to respond in similar ways, regardless of gender. Telephone interviews were completed with 707 adults residing in Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Fanship was operationalized using cognitive, affective, and behavioral bases. In this study, fanship made a difference, with fans clearly more invested in the viewing experience. Male and female sports fans reacted and responded in almost identical ways, although men generally were an insignificant shade more involved than women. However, since more males are fans, the televised sports viewing experience in many households may not be shared, even when husbands and wives watch the same TV sports program.
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Although a large amount of research has demonstrated that sports fans are biased in their evaluations of their favorite teams, no research had reviewed spectators’ evaluations of other spectators. Such an examination was the focus of the present study. In order to test the hypothesis that spectators would show a bias toward fellow ingroup fans and that this bias would be most prominent among spectators high in identification with the team, 103 undergraduate basketball fans were asked to read a scenario describing the behavior of a fellow or rival fan attending a basketball game. Respondents’ evaluations of this target fan and the fan’s behavior supported the hypothesized interaction. Discussion centers on the motivations underlying the relationships between identification, group membership, and evaluations.
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It is argued that the social forces of urbanization, individualism, interpersonal competition, technology, and geographical mobility have brought greater and greater numbers of strangers into people's everyday lives and have made the achievement of primary, social ties with relatives, friends, neighbors, and workmates more difficult. As a result, many are forced to satisfy their needs for sociability in less personal, less intimate, less private ways. It is proposed that sports spectating has emerged as a major urban structure where spectators come together not only to be entertained but to enrich their social psychological lives through the sociable, quasi-intimate relationships available. The changing nature of the sociability experience in America presents sport managers with interesting challenges and opportunities. A number of recommendations are offered for maximizing the gemeinschaft possibilities of sports spectating facilities. By giving greater attention to the individual and communal possibilit...
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Consistent with previous research, 110 spectators' rated team identification of a successful team was not different from the mean of 139 fans' rating in 1992 of an unsuccessful team.
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Framing this paper is the question: what research problem and hypotheses suggested by symbolic interaction theory give promise, if pursued, of significantly advancing the sociology of the family? The problem delineated revolves around the concepts of identity and commitment. After explication of a set of premises and needed refinements in concepts basic to symbolic interaction theory, a number of hypotheses are offered. These purport to account for the position of identities in a salience hierarchy and tie identity salience to role performance. Finally, it is noted that these hypotheses could profitably be studied in the research setting of responses to first pregnancy
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The existing approaches to the study of crowds tend to focus attention on the individual level of behavior and to neglect group-level behavior. Data collected on persons celebrating a football victory indicate that the majority of participants were with one or more friends; that is, they were in groups. These data provide a basis for suggesting that group-level phenomena be given greater prominence in the conceptualization of crowd behavior.
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Despite the social change of the last decade or so, everyday observation reveals that the sexes still tend to live in different social worlds: one for boys (sports, business) and another for girls (babies, typing). In the latter, serious ac tive involvement in sport — ''masculine" sports in particular — seems generally not encouraged. An extensive literature on sex-role socialization illuminates the mechanisms that explain why this is so. The other side of the coin, however, is less apparent. What social forces account for those girls and women who do become seriously involved in sport? Do they undergo socialization similar to, or significantly different than, their male counterparts? In recent years, a few researchers have begun to pay attention to this pro cess (see Kenyon and WcPherson, 1972), and some of the more important determi nants of sport involvement have emerged-for males. Not surprisingly, there is a paucity of research on wemen, a commentary probably both on their devalued status relative to men and on the tension between the roles, "female" and ''athlete". The present paper adds to the small amount of empirical data that have begun to fill this void. It focuses on sex differences in socialization into sport; specifical ly, on the influence of socializing agents.
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This article examines how the fans of four sports teams reacted when their favorite team relocated to another city: the Houston Oilers to Nashville, the Quebec Nordiques to Denver, the Hartford Whalers to Raleigh, and the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix. Drawing on conversations among fans of these teams on Web sites, it was found that, despite the differences in sports, teams, and cities across these four franchises, the people studied expressed similar feelings about the importance of the teams in their lives and of their desire for the franchises to return. In addition, differences were found among fans as to what aspect of the team they were expressing continued allegiance to. Some fans pledged to continue to fight for a team for their city, whereas another group pledged allegiance to the team name and logo. The article concludes with a discussion suggesting some future directions for research on fan allegiance to sports teams.
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The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
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Disagreement on which theory of collective behavior best predicts or explains how crowd processes work prompted this case study. By closely examining, through participant observation, the unfolding of one episode of nonviolent collective behavior at a professional football game, four frequently applied theories of collective behavior are tested for their utility in sports crowd situations. Each theory is assessed for strengths and weaknesses. Findings show contagion theory, convergence theory, emergent norm theory, and value-added theory all valuable in explaining some facets of observed spectator behavior; therefore a synthesis of theories might prove more useful than applying theories separately. A methodological problem emerged during evaluation, concerning difficulty in distinguishing among the indicators for each theory. Several overlapping theoretical concepts confounded attempts to operationalize unique empirical measures and hence, to compare the theories satisfactorily. Further research is needed to provide adequate measures.
Article
This paper presents a sociological analysis of the sport follower role. Topics covered include socialization into the sport fan role; the beneficial consequences of sport spectating, both for the individual and society; and a discussion of the traditional criticisms of sport spectating. The position taken is that following sport is a worthwhile leisure pursuit that enhances an individual's quality of life and has a cohesive effect on society.
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Previous attempts to account for the occurrence of spectator aggression have employed one of the long-standing theories of aggression (i.e., instinctual theories, drive reduction models, and the social learning perspective). While support for some aspects of these theories has been documented, a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon might direct research to more fruitful avenues. Such an analysis is proposed in this review. In addition to incorporating well-documented concepts such as physiological arousal and modeling, this new viewpoint includes the motivational aspects of team or group identification, the cognitive component of categorization, and the esteem-enhancing consequences of aggressive behavior. A model of the variables leading to spectator aggression is presented, and it is contrasted with prior theoretical viewpoints. Public policy implications for aggression reduction among sports spectators are discussed.
Article
Football is a major sport in the United States because of its dramatic enact ment of social values of violence, bureaucracy, sexism, and commercialism. The spec tators of this game are particularly enthralled in the state of Nebraska. Here, a state with a large geographical area and a small, predominanty rural population, the fans have elevated Nebraska fottball to a significant ritual and source for iden tification. As avid supporters they dress in the team colors, red and white; partici pate in pre- and postgame celebrations; travel great distances; and emotionally express their loyalty and dedication to "Big Red.'' By combining the dramaturgical perspective of Erving Goffman with Victor Turner's concepts of liminality and communitas, we have a theoretical framework for analyzing and evaluating cultural dramas in modern society. Nebraska football as a dramatic ritual, then, reveals its creative and destructive roots in American society.
Article
Factors believed to be motivations responsible for sport fandom include eustress, self-esteem, escape, entertainment, economic, aesthetic, group affiliation, and family needs. However, these factors have been untested empirically, and a valid and reliable measure of sport fan motivation has been unavailable to researchers. The current two studies were an attempt to develop such a measure. The construction and validation of a 23-item Likert-scale measure, the Sport Fan Motivation Scale, are described. Discussion centers on possible uses for the instrument.
Article
Previous research examining the tendency for sports spectators to internalize team successes while externalizing team failures has been inconsistent. Several studies have found support for this success/failure attributional bias, but others have not. The current study tested the hypothesis that the success/failure bias would be found among American spectators who were high in identification with a target team but that spectators low in identification would be only minimally biased in their attributions concerning competition outcome. The results of a study testing 90 basketball fans varying in degree of identification supported the hypothesis.
Article
The popularity of spectator sports among American males must be understood within the context of male socialization. Males are socialized to aspire to values of daring, courage, initiative, and control over the destiny of one's life. In a heavily industrialized and bureaucratic society, these aspirations are severely frustrated. Jobs are often boring; men must take orders and compromise their image as rugged individualists in order to survive. The resulting frustration of these traditional values is often worked out in vicarious forms of involvement. One such area is spectator sports which is heavily governed by traditional male values. Sports are here treated as a masculine complex, and specific areas such as sports etiquette, advertising themes, gambling, sports information, and the athletic event itself are investigated. (French, German, Italian & Spanish summaries) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
A survey study of 106 psychology students tested the prediction that persons high in identification with a sports team would be more biased in their evaluations of that team than would persons low in identification. The hypothesis was supported for memory and predictions of team records and for direct measures of past, present, and future team evaluations. Discussion focuses on the motivational processes underlying the relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
While previous work had focused on the manner in which identification with a sports team influences the reactions of spectators, research had yet to identify those factors with the greatest amount of influence on identification. This article reports on an exploratory study designed to fill this void by identifying the factors involved in the origination, continuation, and cessation of sports-team identification. Responses indicated that a wide variety of factors were perceived by fans to be important in their identification. Specifically, the success of the team, geographical reasons, the players, and affiliative reasons were all quite important in the fans' identification.
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