Put "sport spectator" into PsychINFO and found 94 references including
Wann, Daniel L; Melnick, Merrill J; Russell, Gordon W; Pease, Dale G. Sport fans: The psychology and social impact of spectators. [Authored Book] London, England: Routledge. (2001). ix, 246pp. Then put Wann's name into Google and found http://library.thinkquest.org/C0122922/English/The_Mental_Game/Psychology_of_Sport_Fans___Spo/Team_Identification/team_identification.html?tqskip1=1&tqtime=0115 Psychology of Sport Fans & Sport Spectators Team Identification Team identification is another important component in the psychology of sport fans (Branscombe & Wann, 1992a; Hirt, Zillmann, Erickson, & Kennedy, 1992; Real & Mechikoff, 1992; Smith et al., 1981; Wakefield, 1995; Zillmann et al., 1989). Team identification concerns the extent that a fan feels psychologically connected to a team (team identification is also being used to describe identification with athletes participating in individual sports). Fans who are highly identified with a team view the team as an extension of themselves. For these fans the team's successes, the feelings of comradery felt with other fans, and the self-perception that "I am a fan of this team" are all central to their self-concept. Further, they feel that other supporters of their team are better people than supporters of rival teams (Wann & Branscombe, 1995a, 1995b; Wann & Dolan, 1994a). Conversely, low identified fans have only a minimal amount of their social identity invested in the team. Although they may follow the team to a limited degree, their involvement remains peripheral. With reference to the book Sport Psychology by Daniel L. Wann, there are a variety of examples of bizarre behaviors reflecting highly identified fans' fanaticism: 1.A San Jose Shark fan removed her brassiere and threw it on the ice after a Shark player recorded a hat trick (Murphy, 1994). 2.A fan at Wrigley Field in Chicago heeded the final request of his recently deceased father by leaning over the outfield wall and spreading his father's ashes onto the field (Beaton, 1995). 3.A University of Kentucky basketball fan impersonated a deputy so he could provide an escort fot the team on their road trips (Harris, 1993). It is not surprising that the fan's license plate was NO1 CAT (the school's mascot is a wildcat). 4.A St. Louis Cardinals fan used a small transistor radio and an ear plug hidden behind his hair to listen to a Cardinal's game during his own wedding. The fan stated that "I had the best man clued in on what I was doing just in case I missed a strategic answer or something" (USA Today Baseball Weekly, 1993). 5.A Boston Red Sox fan paid $99.000 for the original contract that sent Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the New York Yankees (Antonen, 1994). The fan wanted to destroy the curse that supposedly has haunted the Red Sox since the sale of Ruth by burning the contract at home plate on opening day of the following season. 6.In 1993, the Houston Rockets offered a pair of tickets to a game against the Phoenix Suns to any male fan willing to shave his head in a Charles Barkley look-a-like contest. Female fans willing to shave their heads were offered a pair of tickets to all remaining games. Two hundred people, including a dozen women, were willing to go bald for the tickets (The National Sports Review, 1993). 7.A Dallas Cowboys fan was arrested for stealing a television so he could watch the Cowboy's playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. The thief was arrested when he returned to the scene of the crime to steal the remote control (The National Sports Review, 1993). In the following sections, we are going to take a closer look at team identification. We will investigate the relationship between identification and sport knowledge and the origin of team identification. Origination, Continuation & Cessation of Team Identification Team Identification and Knowledge Psychology of Sport Fans & Sport Spectators The Motives of Sport Fans Theorists have argued that fans are typically motivated by one or more of the following eight factors: group affiliation, family needs, escape, entertainment, eustress, aesthetics, self-esteem, and economics. Although this is not an exhaustive list, each of these factors has been a part of the research of one or more authors, lending credibility to each motive. Recent investigations have indicated that the entertainment and eustress motives are quite common, while the economic motive is rather rare. Group Affiliation Family Escape Entertainment Eustress Aesthetics Self-Esteem Econonmics -- ****************************************************************** * Steven M. Davis, Ph.D. * * Assistant Professor of Psychology * * North Central College * * 30 N. Brainard St. * * Naperville, IL 60566-7063 * * * * [EMAIL PROTECTED] 630/637-5327 (office) 630/637-5121 (fax) * ****************************************************************** http://www.noctrl.edu/academics/departments/psychology/department_site/psychome.htm
begin:vcard n:davis;steve x-mozilla-html:FALSE adr:;;;;;; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] x-mozilla-cpt:;-15984 fn:Steve Davis end:vcard
--- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
