Ed, I have been thinking about your original questions, but I have been busy with the first days of classes and have not had time to write a coherent response until now. I offer this analysis with some sense of humor, at least I believe that Proxmire would consider any research based on these ideas for a golden fleece award. On the other hand it does provide a less social more physiological explanation that a few have requested.
Let me preface this by saying that initial affiliation is likely the result of some kind of in-group affiliation; being part of the home crowd, or supporting "America's Team," or supporting the families' favorite team. At least one study (reference and abstract included below) shows a testosterone surge in fans when the "home team" wins. Such a surge could serve as a positive reinforcement for the operant behaviors associated with following the "home team." Those surges could also serve as a UCS for the CS of the "home team" producing some positive emotional conditional response. It helps that winning produces a partial reinforcement schedule so these operant and emotional behaviors should be difficult to extinguish. The hypothesis is testable. If this hypothesis is correct then we should see stronger affiliation behaviors for teams that have a winning record than for teams that have a loosing record. The strength of affiliation should diminish when a winning team starts loosing (but the changing strength should lag behind the team performance). A correlation between strength of fans affiliation and historical record would provide weak support for the idea. Individuals who have less liability in their production of testosterone should show weaker affiliation behaviors. Oh, I almost forgot, there should be a sex difference in the strength of affiliation with sports teams. What we really need is an animal model for sports fans so that we could test these ideas experimentally ;-) Time to get back to work. Dennis Bernhardt, Paul C; Dabbs, James M. Jr; Fielden, Julie A; Lutter, Candice D. (1998). Testosterone changes during vicarious experiences of winning and losing among fans at sporting events. Physiology & Behavior. 65, 59-62. Abstract Basking in reflected glory, in which individuals increase their self-esteem by identifying with successful others, is usually regarded as a cognitive process that can affect behavior. It may also involve physiological processes, including changes in the production of endocrine hormones. The present research involved two studies of changes in testosterone levels among fans watching their favorite sports teams win or lose. In the first study, participants were eight male fans attending a basketball game between traditional college rivals. In the second study, participants were 21 male fans watching a televised World Cup soccer match between traditional international rivals. Participants provided saliva samples for testosterone assay before and after the contest. In both studies, mean testosterone level increased in the fans of winning teams and decreased in the fans of losing teams. These findings suggest that watching one's heroes win or lose has physiological consequences that extend beyond changes in mood and self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved) Dennis M. Goff Professor of Psychology Randolph-Macon Woman's College [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Pollak, Edward [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2002 9:04 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Sports (was Proof of God's Existence) Paul wrote I've got to admit that I agree on that last point (despite my earlier ribbing...). As I understand it, we're 9 point underdogs at the moment. On the other hand, the Packers are a better team than they've looked recently, and this IS the NFL's 1-loss-and-you're-out playoff system. If it were a 5 or 7 game series, I'd bet money against the Packers. In one game, though, surprising things happen fairly often. It'd be a big mistake for the Rams to look past this game before it starts. You folks have no idea how sorry I am that I started this thread!!!! Aside from all the sports talk/banter it's generated, I remain as discombobulated as ever. As far as I'm concerned, answers involving things like "identification," "reflected glory," etc. are decidedly unsatisfactory because they beg the question: Why do people identify with these teams and why do they experience any perceived glory won by the team? It's a beef I've had with most social psychological explanations for many years now. Q. Why do people experience joy when the home team wins? A. Because they identify with the team, Q. How do you know they identify with the team? A. Because they experience joy when the home team wins. Q. But why do people experience joy when the home team wins? A. Because they identify with the team................... In the words of Homer Simpson, "DOH!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Graduate Coordinator, Holocaust and Genocide Studies Department of Psychology, West Chester Univ. of Pennsylvania Office: 610-436-3151; Home: 610-363-1939; Fax: 610-436-2846 Office hours: Mondays 12-4 p.m.; Tues. & Thurs.: 8 a.m.-noon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, bluegrass fiddler and herpetoculturist ( http://www.adcham.com) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shameless self promotion: The Mill Creek Bluegrass Band performs every Tuesday night at Dugal's Inn, Mortonville, 8 miles west of West Chester, PA. Call 610- 486-0953 for directions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
