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Favorite Sports Team
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Go Steelers—no, go Broncos—no, WAIT, GO DOPHINS! What on earth is wrong with
these people? What's wrong with supporting the hometown team? The thing is,
they're not supporting the hometown team. Why are they supporting some far-off,
distant team?
Remember Joe Namath? How about John Elway? How many people identified with
these quarterbacks' teams even when they didn't live anywhere near Florida or
Colorado? Women by the millions supported the Dolphins and the Brocos because
they thought Namath and Elway were cute, women who had zip interest in
football.
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How do we explain the men who had no apparent reason to support these two
teams? Did they identify with Namath's swagger, with John Elway's Paul
McCartney youthful looks? Or was it something more? Did they identify with
winning teams the same way that politicians support issues that the pollsters
offer up on a silver platter just to identify with a winner? Both explanations
are entirely possible, but there could be an even greater pressure at work
behind the scenes to sway a fan's loyalty to a seemingly random team.
We all remember the peer pressure we faced in high school. The choice was
simple: belong to the in-group or remain quietly miserable in isolation. The
same concept applies when we enter the workplace, when we play the game of life
for keeps.
It's the Identity, Stupid! Psychologists and sociologists have studied this
phenomenon at length, in particular from the sports fans' points of
view—focusing primarily on football sports fans, because the phenomenon is more
pervasive with football. Of all the major sports, football rouses the emotions
of more people to greater heights than any other sport. The studies are all
based on the well-established fact that people identify with groups. They call
it the social identity theory.
Studies have shown that:
· People tend to behave in a manner that boosts self-esteem, and identifying
with an in-group is one way to do that.
· Affinity with other sports enthusiasts trumps most other types of in-groups.
· In-group members tend to socialize with other in-group members more than with
out-group members.
· Differences among in-group members are minimized, while similarities tend to
be exaggerated.
· This makes them more attractive to others, or at least they perceive that
they are more attractive to others.
· Identity with the in-group conquers isolation, which can cause anxiety.
· When "their" team does well, it boosts their self-esteem.
· When the identity is strong enough, the fan views the team just as positively
after a loss as after a victory.
· In-group members tend to attributes game losses to the other team. In the end
for some, it's the identity, not the actual team that matters.
--< Watchdog
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