Newswise — According to David G. Myers, social psychologist at Hope College in Holland, Mich., there's something primal at work when we get behind a favorite team.
"Theory and evidence indicate that the roots of rivalry run deep," he says. "Our ancestors, living in a world where neighboring tribes occasionally raided and pillaged one another's camps, knew that there was safety in solidarity. Those who didn't band together left fewer descendants."
Dividing the world into 'us' and 'them' has its costs -- such as racism and war -- but also provides the benefits of communal solidarity, says Myers. To identify 'us' and 'them', our ancestors " not so far removed from today's fans " dressed or painted themselves in group-specific costumes and colors."
"As social animals, we live in groups, cheer on our groups, kill for our groups, die for our groups. We also define ourselves by our groups. Our self-concept " our sense of who we are "consists not only of our personal attributes and attitudes, but also of our social identity."
And that "we-ness" feels good, explains Myers. It strengthens self-concept and pride, especially when we perceive our group as superior.
"Lacking a positive identity, many youths find pride, power, and identity in gangs. Many superpatriots define themselves by their national identities. Many 'cheese heads' find added identity in their association with the Packers."
The group definition of who we are also implies who we are not. "Many social psychological experiments reveal that being formed into groups " even arbitrary groups "promotes 'ingroup bias.' Cluster people into groups defined by nothing more than their birth date or even the last digit of their driver's license and they'll feel a certain kinship with their number mates, and will show them favoritism. So strong is our group consciousness that 'we' seem better than 'they' even when 'we' and 'they' are defined randomly."
That group solidarity soars when people face a common enemy.
"Competition creates enemies," he says. "Fueled by competition and unleashed by the anonymity of a crowd, passion can culminate in sport's worst moments"fans taunting opponents, screaming at umpires, even pelting referees with beer bottles."
But group identification soars further with success. "Fans find self-respect by their personal achievements, but also, in at least small measure, by their association with the victorious athletes who represent them," he says. "When our team wins, 'we' win. Queried after a big football victory, university students commonly report that 'we won.' Asked the outcome after a defeat, students more often reply that 'they lost.'"
Fan identification with teams affects biology and beliefs as well.
"James Dabbs, a Georgia State University psychologist, has found that male fans' testosterone levels rise with victory and drop with defeat, much as do male animals' testosterone levels after a fight over a desired mate," says Myers. "In one test, he sampled saliva from Italian and Brazilian fans before and after Brazil's 1994 World Cup soccer victory over Italy. As the average Brazilian's testosterone level rose 28 percent, the Italian's level dropped 27 percent."
"In studying rabid fans after Indiana University basketball games, psychologist Edward Hirt found that fans' self-concepts also rise with victory and fall with defeat. After a loss, the fans offered bleaker assessments of their own likely performance at throwing darts, solving anagrams, and getting a date. When things aren't going our way, it may seem as though nothing will. When our team triumphs, we're cool."
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