Personality in sport: a comprehensive review

This review addresses personality in organised sport. We describe the extant literature that has explored personality effects on athletic success and population-based differences before hypothesising how sport participation may contribute to personality development. We then outline the role of personality in athletic interactions and group processes before considering the practical applications of personality research and avenues for future study. Our review shows that personality is an important determinant of long-term success in sport and identifies clear personality differences between individuals that participate in organised sport and individuals that do not participate in organised sport. We also observe important personality differences between sub-samples of athletes and outline the contribution of personality to intragroup relationships and team effectiveness in team sport. The interaction of genetic and environmental influences is presented as a promising avenue of inquiry that can strengthen our understanding of personality effects on sport and exercise participation and athletic success. We conclude by outlining implications for applied sport psychology.     

The exclusiveness of group identity in celebrations of team success

Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) describes individuals’ tendency to publicly affiliate themselves with successful others. Within sport, scholars have provided foundational knowledge pertaining to BIRGing; however, they have not deeply engaged with sport fans to understand the influence of multiple group identities in celebrating team success. Using social identity theory and social identity complexity as theoretical frameworks in the current study, I conduct qualitative research with sport fans to understand how multiple group identities influence fan behaviours in response to team performance. I discover that fans (1) BIRG and blast for an enhanced sense of inclusiveness and distinctiveness, and (2) possess multiple, ordinarily inclusive group identities, which converge into a highly exclusive social identity structure immediately before, during, and after games against rivals. I conclude by discussing the potential theoretical and managerial implications regarding multiple group identities in sport contexts, as well as directions for future research.     

A fan’s search for meaning: Testing the dimensionality of sport fan superstition

Uncertainty is a fundamental component of spectator sport fandom. While it may draw some fans to an event, it can be frustrating for others, as fans have little control over how preferred teams perform. As a means to cope with this unpleasant state, some sport fans perform superstitions or create rituals. Little is known, however, how such beliefs and behaviors impact the sport fan experience. In the current study, the authors explored sport fan superstition within the context of mediated team sport spectatorship through a multi-study quantitative approach. The results of Study 1 validated a multidimensional model of sport fan superstition, and superstitious behavior positively impacted in-game mood states for fans of winning and losing teams. In Study 2, the authors tested the dimensionality of sport fan superstition through segmentation and uncovered consumption differences and attribution differences for fans of winning and losing teams. Superstitious behavior was once again an influential factor, as those who behaved more superstitiously were more likely to attribute outcomes to external sources such as referees and fate.     

足球赛场球迷骚乱和暴力成因的社会心理学探析

采用文献综述和逻辑分析等方法,从社会心理学的角度得出,足球骚乱和暴力是一种集群行为,这种集群行为刚开始被社会体系所约束,球迷被动地规范着自己的行为,但一旦受到外界因素的刺激,这种社会控制体系就可能解除,从而产生直接的冲突,造成社会控制机制失控的骚乱,甚至球场暴力。因此,足协、俱乐部、球迷协会要坚持不懈的做好球迷工作,引导正确看球;新闻媒体要正确、如实地做好宣传工作;净化裁判队伍;消除赛场中的各种安全隐患;正确处理球迷闹事事件。     

Will the real fans please remain seated? Gender and television ratings for pre-game and game broadcasts

Previous analysis of fan motivation suggests a number of differences exist in the sport spectatorship of female and male fans, however discrepancies are present in the collective findings. We extend the literature by drawing on sport economic demand research, testing how specific game characteristics influence consumption patterns for each gender. Through the examination of NCAA football game broadcasts, our results support the importance of female pre-game viewership to establish fan status. By contrast, among the many variables tested, gendered-differences in the impact on game viewership are evident only with respect to income and local team participation. Moreover, we do not find differences related to anticipated or actual game competitiveness. We conclude that within game viewership patterns are essentially similar for female and male fans and offer thoughts regarding the practical implications of this research.     

It’s our club! From supporter psychological ownership to supporter formal ownership

A major development in international sport governance is the increasing number of clubs owned by supporters. Researchers have advocated for more supporter involvement in the governance of sport teams but have not fully explained why some supporters attempt to become team owners. Sport governance scholars have also generally ignored the perspectives of those fans that do not seek to become club owners. In the current study, the authors took the perspective of psychological ownership theory and used semi-structured interviews to examine the perspectives of a professional football team’s supporters, some of which were interested in becoming team shareholders. The authors found that a primary reason supporters attempt to become club owners lies in their sense of psychological ownership for their team. Following this sense of ownership, supporter ownership initiatives appear to follow a certain pattern of events, including a sense of dissatisfaction, expressing such dissatisfaction in an attempt to bring about change, and eventually, initiating a formal ownership movement after reaching a tipping point. Lastly, the authors found that during supporter ownership movements, the actions taken by supporters involved in such initiatives may impact fans not involved in the ownership movement. The study makes contributions to sport governance, fan behavior, psychological ownership and fan social network literatures.     

Targeting Mr average: participation,gender equity and school sport partnerships

The School Sport Partnership Programme (SSPP) is one strand of the national strategy for physical education and school sport in England, the physical education and school sport Club Links Strategy (PESSCL). The SSPP aims to make links between school physical education (PE) and out of school sports participation, and has a particular remit to raise the participation levels of several identified under-represented groups, of which girls and young women are one. National evaluations of the SSPP show that it is beginning to have positive impacts on young people's activity levels by increasing the range and provision of extra curricular activities (Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), 2003, 2004, 2005; Loughborough Partnership, 2005, 2006). This paper contributes to the developing picture of the phased implementation of the programme by providing qualitative insights into the work of one school sport partnership with a particular focus on gender equity. The paper explores the ways in which gender equity issues have been explicitly addressed within the ‘official texts’ of the SSPP; how these have shifted over time and how teachers are responding to and making sense of these in their daily practice. Using participation observation, interview and questionnaire data, the paper explores how the coordinators are addressing the challenge of increasing the participation of girls and young women. The paper draws on Walby's (2000) conceptualisation of different kinds of feminist praxis to highlight the limitations of the coordinators’ work. Two key themes from the data and their implications are addressed: the dominance of competitive sport practices and the PE professionals’ views of targeting as a strategy for increasing the participation of under-represented groups. The paper concludes that coordinators work within an equality or difference discourse with little evidence of the transformative praxis needed for the programme to be truly inclusive.     

我国农民工体育权益发展现状及保障探析

弱势群体中的农民工是我国社会发展中一个不可忽视的人群。他们是维护社会稳定和谐发展的一个重要因素。体育权益作为每个公民的一项合法权益,忽略或者忽视任何一个群体的体育权益都是与我国的社会发展目标不一致的,尤其是对弱势群体。通过查阅文献、走访和调查,了解农民工的体育参与状态,从农民工体育权益的保障及影响因素等方面军进行分析合探讨。     

Team identification and sports fandom as predictors of fan aggression: The moderating role of ageing

In the current study, the explored the moderating role of ageing in the relationship between team identification/fandom and fan aggression. The authors used an online panel-based survey that offered access to a realworld population of sports fans. Participants were 740 fans of Israeli professional basketball. Results from structural equation modelling demonstrated that older fans reported higher levels of mere sports fandom and lower levels of self-reported aggression and acceptance of aggression. Moreover, age moderated the relationships between team identification (or fandom) and self-reported aggression, such that team identification (or fandom) was more strongly associated with selfreported fan aggression among younger fans than among older fans. The moderating role of age in the relationships between team identification (or fandom) and perceptions of appropriateness of aggression was not supported. The findings contribute to our theoretical understanding of the role of ageing in the relationship between fan identification and fan aggression. Based on these findings, the authors assert that managers might particularly benefit from leveraging the potential, but often neglected, segment of senior fans, since older fans can play a key role in reducing the level of aggression during competitive sports events. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

March sadness: Coping with fan identity threat

While a majority of team identification studies have focused on the influence of psychological connection on organizational objectives, it is important to also examine the influence of team identification on fans in terms of their well-being. Considering the latter, there has been a relative lack of inquiry into how identified fans cope with identity threat, such as program scandal. In the current study, the author uses autoethnography, an interpretive ethnographic mode of inquiry, to examine her Syracuse University Men’s Basketball fandom and her reaction to sanctions imposed on the program in 2015. In doing so, the author finds that she relied on multiple emotion-focused coping strategies over a one-year period to deal with identity threat until a series of positive team-related events restored her identity. The author also finds that her role identities as fan and scholar frequently conflicted one another. Theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications of the current study are discussed.     

基于国际化背景下残健融合队参加排舞比赛的可行性分析

随着全球化的普及,排舞自传入中国以来,被越来越多的人所熟知,吸引着不同年龄、不同性别、不同阶层的群体参加进来。为了鼓励全民积极参与,国家和政府给予大力的政策和资金支持。在此背景下,本论文以文献资料法、录像观察法、实地考察法、专家访谈法等方法对残健融合队参加排舞比赛的可行性展开研究。研究发现:1.融合队参加排舞比赛既可以提高特殊群体的自信心,又扩大社交范围,增强凝聚力;2.特殊群体的加入,扩大了排舞群体的参与面,提高了排舞的观赏性、包容性,使排舞朝着多元化方向发展,更好的与国际接轨;3.融合队的参与,为今后的排舞发展提供更广阔的空间,也为研究排舞运动的学者提供可参考的依据。     

Understanding fan motivation for interacting on social media

Social media provide fans with an additional means to engage with their team and are a valuable forum for sport organizations to better understand fan motivations and strengthen fan relationships. This study contributes to emerging research on the nature of social media use by revealing the motivations underpinning the desire of fans to communicate on the Facebook sites of several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Our findings indicate that fans exercise four key motives as they draw value from the social media enabled connection to the team: passion, hope, esteem and camaraderie. Further, and in light of our understanding of these motives, we identify how this platform can be used to facilitate interaction, a key construct in relationship marketing. A content analysis, using a netnographic methodology, was undertaken to explore online comments by fans of eight purposefully selected NBA teams over a two-week period during the off-season. This period represents strong potential for isolating highly identified fans who are motivated to seek engagement and interaction. Implications for sport managers to further relational goals are identified.     

The impact of a team's aggressive reputation on the decisions of association football referees

It has been suggested that individuals may use heuristic methods of reasoning and rely on schemata when a quick decision is necessary. Accordingly, it is possible that decisions made by sport officials may be influenced by prior knowledge they have about teams they are officiating. The aim of the present study was to determine whether sport officials are more likely to penalize individuals who participate in a team with an aggressive reputation. In a balanced design, 38 football referees were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group and were presented with the same 50 video clips of incidents from football games, all involving a team in a blue strip ('blue team'). The incidents were categorized before the study by five experienced referees into fouls committed both by, and against, the blue team, where all participants agreed that a foul had been committed (certain incidents), disagreed it was a foul (uncertain incidents) or agreed that there was no foul (innocuous incidents). Both groups received written instructions before the task; in addition, the experimental group was informed that the blue team present in all of the clips had a reputation for foul and aggressive play. For each incident, the participants were required to indicate what action they would engage in if refereeing the game. Although there was no difference in the number of decisions made, the experimental group awarded significantly more red and yellow cards against the blue team both overall and for the 'certain' incidents. It is suggested that prior knowledge may impact referees' behaviour in a laboratory setting, although future research should explore whether a similar effect is observed in the behaviour of referees during football matches.     

Danish police practice and national football fan crowd behaviour. Dialogue or coercive force?

With the development of the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM), psychological theory has in recent years seen an interesting development in research on crowd behaviour. This body of knowledge authored predominantly by Clifford Stott has reformed the EU guidelines on how to best police football fan crowds at international tournaments. With onset in participant observations and interviews with Danish ultras, this paper examines the coherence between the current Danish police strategy, which is described in the National Handbook on Police Work in Association with Football Matches (2011), and the behaviour of Danish football fan crowds containing ultras group members. Agreeing with the overall guidelines in the ESIM, this paper points out some shortcomings in the National handbook and recommends elaborating certain aspects of it as well as adding a section on six ideal types of football fan crowd behaviour.     

Fandom face to face

This essay focuses on the contexts away from the stadium where fans congregate, organise, develop and learn to perform their fandom. I define the concept of performance and show how it applies to fandom. I describe how, in small to medium scale, face-to-face settings, fans are able to form bonds and validate each others’ fandom. For some, fandom is an extension of playing the game as in Holland, where one might play in the amateur ranks of one of the famous professional teams. In Italy, organised fandom follows from a history of neighbourhood social clubs. I describe the Roma Club Testaccio as the epicentre of Roma fandom, and how it serves to educate fans in Roman-ness. Hardcore fan clubs support the team home and away, and I describe one of my own intense experiences travelling on the bus with some of the most notorious hardcore fans in Italy. Italians can also visit the grounds at which their beloved team practices and where they can catch a glimpse of the players up close, and connect with other devotees. As these snapshots demonstrate, the social gatherings of fans away from the football stadium are where fandom takes shape.     

完善高校运动队训练与管理体制的探讨

目前我国体育经济发展突飞猛进,体育经济市场极为活跃。如何利用和发挥高校的办学优势,形成适应21世纪经济和社会发展需要的人才培养体系是当前高等学校改革的重要内容之一。从目前的实际情况出发提出相应的对策,即开办体育相关专业,在满足未来体育事业发展需要的同时,进一步完善高水平运动队的训练与管理体制,为我国高校体育教学与训练的改革提供依据。     

Exploring sport brand double jeopardy: The link between team market share and attitudinal loyalty

Marketers are charged with the responsibility of attracting consumers and encouraging loyalty for their brands. Double jeopardy, a marketing law observed across numerous product and service settings, contends that loyalty is largely influenced by a brand's market share. There have been suggestions that sport may be one of the few areas immune to such effects, providing researchers with an opportunity to test how sport brand loyalty may be impacted by market share. The current research capitalises on this opportunity by assessing the effects of market share on attitudinal loyalty reported by a sample of 794 Australian sport fans. ANOVA tests revealed that fans of high market share brands displayed higher levels of attitudinal loyalty towards their favourite teams in comparison to small market share team fans. Further tests revealed that differences existed in terms of the brand association perceptions held by high and small market share team fans, and how these contributed to predicting attitudinal loyalty. Consequently, sport marketers should be cognisant of double jeopardy effects when evaluating sport brands and formulating marketing strategies, though future research is needed to determine the full applicability of double jeopardy within the sport context.     

The tie that blinds? Developing and validating a scale to measure emotional attachment to a sport team

The emotional bond between a fan and his/her favourite team is one of the most distinct attributes of spectator sport. Yet to this point, little has been done to empirically explore this unique phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to create and validate an emotional attachment to a sport team scale. Guided by attachment theory and following a well-established scale development framework, a two-factor, seven-item scale was found to be a valid and reliable instrument. The two distinct factors termed Investment (cognitive feelings put into the team) and Dividend (affective feelings derived from the team) represent a unique contribution to the field of sport management. In addition, a construct validity test provided quantitative verification of an apparent hierarchy of the emotional attachment dimensions where those with higher Investment scores appear to place a higher (somewhat irrational) value on team success compared to those with higher Dividend scores.     

The impact of a team's aggressive reputation on the decisions of association football referees

It has been suggested that individuals may use heuristic methods of reasoning and rely on schemata when a quick decision is necessary. Accordingly, it is possible that decisions made by sport officials may be influenced by prior knowledge they have about teams they are officiating. The aim of the present study was to determine whether sport officials are more likely to penalize individuals who participate in a team with an aggressive reputation. In a balanced design, 38 football referees were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group and were presented with the same 50 video clips of incidents from football games, all involving a team in a blue strip ('blue team'). The incidents were categorized before the study by five experienced referees into fouls committed both by, and against, the blue team, where all participants agreed that a foul had been committed (certain incidents), disagreed it was a foul (uncertain incidents) or agreed that there was no foul (innocuous incidents). Both groups received written instructions before the task; in addition, the experimental group was informed that the blue team present in all of the clips had a reputation for foul and aggressive play. For each incident, the participants were required to indicate what action they would engage in if refereeing the game. Although there was no difference in the number of decisions made, the experimental group awarded significantly more red and yellow cards against the blue team both overall and for the 'certain' incidents. It is suggested that prior knowledge may impact referees' behaviour in a laboratory setting, although future research should explore whether a similar effect is observed in the behaviour of referees during football matches.     

Talent development of high performance coaches in team sports in Ireland

Background: Coaches are central to the development of the expert performer and similarly to continued lifelong participation in sport. Coaches are uniquely positioned to deliver specific technical and tactical instruction and mentoring programmes that support the psychological and social development of athletes in a challenging, goal-oriented and motivational environment. The current study aimed to qualitatively investigate current coach learning sources and coaches’ educational backgrounds in team sports in Ireland. Methods: Coaches from five team sports in Ireland were asked to complete an online questionnaire. Subsequently male coaches (n?=?19) from five team sports who completed the questionnaire and met the inclusion criteria were invited to attend a follow-up semi-structured interview. Inclusion criteria for coaches were that they possess at least 10 years’ experience coaching their sport and were coaching more than 4 hours per week. Results/Discussion: Formal coach education does not meet the needs of high performance coaches who rely more on self-directed learning and coaching experience as their main sources of CPD. Although prior playing experience at a high level is both valuable and desirable, there are concerns about fast-tracking of ex-players into high performance coaching roles. Conclusions: Preferred sources of education and the best learning environment for coaches of team sports in Ireland are more informal than formal. Further research is needed to examine how this learning is applied in a practical manner by examining coaching behaviours and the impact it has on the athlete development process.