If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Any partner of a die-hard sports fan may benefit from research into the positive aspects of sports fandom so they can better understand the madness, paraphernalia and emotional rollercoaster that possesses the otherwise balanced men in their home. 

Soccer is THE game in our family.  The kids play, the men play, the women play, everyone watches and everyone attends local Phoenix games as part of the ‘Yellow Fever’ supporters fan base.  While I am mostly indifferent to this craze in my immediate and extended family, it comes as quite a surprise to consider the therapeutic aspects and positive benefits to my husband’s social wellbeing of being part of an active fan crew.  According to Wann (2006), simply identifying with a specific team can give a boost to his emotional wellbeing as long as they are winning or doing well.  Hubby wears the gear, and feels physically and emotionally buoyant after a win, and the payoff of a positive mood can last for days.  Losses for big or important games can indeed cause days of depression, something that has baffled me for some time.  

But even more important than the obvious feel-good factor of supporting a winning team, is when the fan’s group membership facilitates opportunities for social connections, and it’s this aspect of sports fandom that has the most payoff (Wann, 2006).  Come game time, hubby and his supporter friends and family meet beforehand to eat and have a few drinks, play pool and talk rubbish about the upcoming game.  But these man-dates apparently facilitate connection, belonging and all sorts of touchy feely aspects of friendship that the average kiwi bloke may not wish to admit to.  The correlations of sports fandom probably moderated by healthy social connections (Wann, 2006) are far reaching – known to be associated with increased positive affect, extroversion, openness, conscientiousness, and lower feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression, alienation, fatigue, anger, tension and confusion (Wann 2006) – its’ like a wonder drug in a sports stadium.

It’s a framework for social connection that allows a person to have legitimate reasons to seek out companionship, connect, belong, plan and have fun and pursue other emotionally buoyant activities including singing and chanting!.  In many ways it reminds me of church, a similar hub for non-sporting social engagement, belonging and shared purpose – being a part of something bigger than yourself (Wann, 2006).  Sports fandom may well give the average bloke, acceptable avenues to connect and belong, which are inherent human needs, and explains why hubby sees it as a family occasion too –consistent with opportunities to connect without sitting round the coffee table with grandma drinking cups of tea. 

You know what they say, if you can’t beat them join them.  Maybe I’ll become a fan myself.  Maybe I’ll wait for their next win, and wear my Phoenix shirt the next day… just to BIRG! (3)

References

1.        Wann, D., (2006), Understanding the Positive Social Psychological Benefits of Sport Team Identification: The team Identification – Social Psychological Health Model, Group Dynamics: Theory, research, and Practise, 10, 272-296,

2.        Posten, M., (1998), Social Identity Theory: Sports Affiliation and Self Esteem,[Course Notes],Social Psychology Miami University (Ohio USA). Retrieved 20 January 2013 http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/fans/bc.shtml

3.        Posten, M., (1998), Basking in Reflected Glory, [Course Notes],Social Psychology Miami University (Ohio USA). Retrieved 20 January 2013 http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/fans/sit.shtml

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump may be the best thing that’s happened to the planet

Image
When sleeping women wake, mountains move – Chinese proverb I vowed to remove myself from all forms of media, social and otherwise to hibernate from the Trump winter that was about to descend as of the inauguration.   The women’s uprising (what else can you call it?) saved me from my despair, renewed me with hope, made me feel like I was in my own episode of Star Wars and part of the rebellion and revolution against the dark side of the force.   Cos Trump isn’t evil as much as frighteningly normal.   It’s a side of human nature – and its obviously prevalent. Like an outlaw moving into town, shooting up the locals and scaring people, the Trumpster has run roughshod over many painstakingly fought - one wonders what the fuck is he is thinking – the arrogance of the man to think these things are, what? The inane decisions of years of research down the toilet in 4 short days.  It beggars belief…   Unravelled the state medical care package that provided extra and accessible hea
Read more

I can’t keep quiet

I outed myself this week, on Facebook, as a non-pray-er.  This came as a surprise, as I knew it would to many people I had known for a long time.  I grew up in a traditional (and conservative) church, and have been a very authentic and passionate Christian.  But that has changed, but I had not really told many people yet. This blog is, however, about the non-prayer bit, not the Christian-no-more bit – that might come later. In terms of prayer, even as a Christian I never subscribed to the ‘moving the hand of God’ version of prayer nor the ‘asking God to bring-out-the-sun-for-the-Church-picnic type prayers.  I could see no sense in asking God to bring out the sun in New Zealand, when he didn’t seem to bring the rain for the droughts in Africa.  This wasn’t necessarily cos I didn’t think he couldn't, just that he didn't. It just wasn’t the way he worked, for whatever reason.  And asking God to intervene in the behaviour of others seems closer to witchcraft than God-craft.
Read more

Unexpectedly, a village

Image
Unexpectedly, my daughter (25) and her partner found themselves living with us in the last few weeks of her first pregnancy. They weren’t exactly excited about it. In their ideal imaginings, expecting their much wanted first baby, what they did not expect was to be back in her childhood bedroom, sharing a kitchen, bathroom and living area with her parents and siblings. Becoming an adult in our culture generally involves living independently in your own home, not with the 'olds'. Yet, here they were; pregnant, expectant and unable to nest or set up the baby’s room, or any of the other things she imagined she’d be doing at this time, all she could do, in fact, was rest. While honouring their disappointment, I harboured the suspicion that it was possibly the best thing any new parent could ask for, even though they didn’t realise it, yet. How could they? None of us really knows what to expect before that squishy ball of raw human need enters the world from the soft confines of h
Read more