‫ קורסים מקוונים ללמידה עצמאית‬:‫אנגלית אקדמית‬
‫ בסיסי‬:‫רמה‬
Unit 6: Sport Psychology; It isn't Just a Game: Clues to avid Rooting :6 ‫יחידה‬
THE NEW YORK TIMES
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY; It Isn't Just a Game: Clues to Avid
Rooting
By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.
Published: August 11, 2000
1 It has long been assumed that ardent
sports fans derive excitement and a sense
of community from rooting for a big-time
team. But a growing body of scientific
evidence suggests that for some fans, the
ties go much deeper.
2 Some researchers have found that fervent
fans become so tied to their teams that
they experience hormonal surges and
other physiological changes while
watching games, much as the athletes do.
3 The self-esteem of some male and female
fans also rises and falls with a game's
outcome, with losses affecting their
optimism about everything from getting a
date to winning at darts, one study
showed.
4 Science is still grappling with many
questions about why people form such
deep ties to sports teams, and it has not yet
rigorously confronted what may be the
core question: is avidly rooting for a team
good or bad for someone's health? But
there are early clues, some of them
surprising.
5 Psychologists have long suspected that
many die-hard* fans are lonely, alienated
people searching for self-esteem by
identifying with a sports team. But a study
at the University of Kansas suggests just
the opposite – that sports fans suffer fewer
bouts of depression and alienation than do
people who are uninterested in sports.
0F
6 One theory traces the roots of fan
psychology to a primitive time when
human beings lived in small tribes, and
warriors fighting to protect tribes were
true genetic representatives of their
people, psychologists say.
7 In modern society, professional and
college athletes play a similar role for a
city in the stylized war on a playing field,
the theory goes. Even though professional
athletes are mercenaries in every sense,
their exploits may re-create the intense
emotions in some fans that tribal warfare
might have in their ancestors. It may also
be these emotions that have in large part
fueled the explosion in the popularity of
sports over the last two decades.
* die-hard = fanatically devoted
1
‫ קורסים מקוונים ללמידה עצמאית‬:‫אנגלית אקדמית‬
‫ בסיסי‬:‫רמה‬
Unit 6: Sport Psychology; It isn't Just a Game: Clues to avid Rooting :6 ‫יחידה‬
8 ''Our sports heroes are our warriors,''
13 Studies over the last decade showed that
Robert Cialdini, a professor of psychology
while the run-of-the-mill* spectator may
abandon a team once it starts losing, more
at Arizona State, said about sports fans.
committed fans ride the same emotional
''This is not some light diversion to be
roller coaster as the athletes.
enjoyed for its inherent grace and
harmony. The self is centrally involved in
Highs and Lows of Rooting
the outcome of the event. Whoever you
14 In 1993 psychologists at the University of
root for represents you.''
Kansas came up with a survey for
measuring a fan's attachment to his team.
9 Dr. Cialdini pioneered research on fans in
The scale divides fans into high, low and
the 1970's. He began by documenting that
moderate identification, based on their
college sports fans were far more likely to
responses to seven written questions.
wear clothing with their team's logo on the
day after victories than after defeats, a
phenomenon he called ''basking in
15 A raft of studies since then has found that
''highly identified'' fans – both men and
reflected glory.''
women – are not only less likely to
abandon a team when it is doing poorly,
10 ''It becomes possible to attain some sort of
but tend to blame their team's failures on
respect and regard not by one's own
officiating or bad luck rather than the
achievements but by one's connection to
other team's skill. They also exhibit higher
individuals of attainment,'' he said.
levels of physiological arousal at games,
spend more money on tickets and
11 His later research showed that sports fans
merchandise and enjoy generally higher
tend to claim credit for a team's success,
self-esteem than people uninterested in
saying ''we won'' to describe a victory, but
sports.
tend to distance themselves from a team's
failure, saying ''they lost'' when describing
16 ''It's the highly identified fans who
a defeat.
demonstrate this fierce connection and
feel elation and dejection along with the
12 But Dr. Cialdini's initial theories did not
team,'' Dr. Cialdini said.
cover all spectators, because some deeply
committed fans, like the long suffering
souls who love the Chicago Cubs, remain 17 Gene Hamm, a 37-year-old elevator
mechanic from Staten Island, says his
loyal and fiercely attached to their idols
despite years of failure.
1F
* run-of-the-mill = ordinary
2
‫ קורסים מקוונים ללמידה עצמאית‬:‫אנגלית אקדמית‬
‫ בסיסי‬:‫רמה‬
Unit 6: Sport Psychology; It isn't Just a Game: Clues to avid Rooting :6 ‫יחידה‬
passion for the Mets, ignited as a boy
during the 1969 season, has never been
extinguished. He watches every game he
can on television, his emotions rising and
falling with every pitch, every hit, every
managerial decision.
18 ''I actually feel myself sitting on the couch
managing the team,'' he said.
19 Mr. Hamm spent months at home last
year, recuperating from a job-related
injury, and he said watching the Mets kept
him from slipping into depression. Then
Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run
to seal the Atlanta Braves' victory over the
Mets in the playoffs.
20 ''You don't walk in the winning run,'' he
said, looking as if he had swallowed a
glass of lemon juice. ''I really wish they
could have won last year. That would
have made me feel so much better.''
21 Some recent studies suggest that some
fans experience physiological changes
during a game or when shown photos of
their team.
22 A study in Georgia has shown, for
instance, that testosterone levels in male
fans rise markedly after a victory and drop
just as sharply after a defeat. The same
pattern has been documented in male
animals who fight over a mate: biologists
theorize that mammals may have evolved
3
this way to ensure quick resolutions to
conflicts.
23 James Dabbs, a psychologist at Georgia
State University, tested saliva samples
from different groups of sports fans before
and after important games.
24 In one test, Dr. Dabbs took saliva samples
from 21 Italian and Brazilian men in
Atlanta before and after Brazil's victory
over Italy in soccer's 1994 World Cup.
The Brazilians' testosterone rose an
average of 28 percent, while the Italians'
levels dropped 27 percent.
25 In another study, at the University of
Utah, Dr. Dabbs and a colleague, Paul
Bernhardt, found that male college
basketball fans whose responses to a
questionnaire indicated they had a low
opinion of themselves registered the
highest surges in testosterone after a
victory.
26 Dr. Dabbs said in an interview that the
results suggest fans empathize with the
competitors to such a degree that they
mentally project themselves into the game
and experience the same hormonal surges
athletes do. The contest, however, must be
an important one, like a playoff game, he
said.
27 ''We really are tribal creatures,'' he said.
‫ קורסים מקוונים ללמידה עצמאית‬:‫אנגלית אקדמית‬
‫ בסיסי‬:‫רמה‬
Unit 6: Sport Psychology; It isn't Just a Game: Clues to avid Rooting :6 ‫יחידה‬
Physiological Arousal
33 ''It's a release,'' he said. ''You can yell and
scream and do whatever. It's like therapy.''
28 Charles Hillman, a psychologist now at
the University of Illinois, found that
ardent football fans at the University of
34 Edward Hirt of Indiana University has
Florida experienced extreme physiological
demonstrated that an ardent fan's selfarousal when they viewed pictures of
esteem tends to track a team's
Gator football stars making game-winning
performance.
plays, but responded indifferently to
pictures of other athletes and teams.
35 Working with fans of Indiana University's
basketball teams, Dr. Hirt showed zealous
29 "Individuals that are highly identified with
fans pictures of very attractive members
the team show extreme arousal compared
of the opposite sex after a game and asked
to the average fan,'' he said.
them to rate their ability to get a date with
them.
30 Among zealous male and female fans, Dr.
Hillman's study found, the level of arousal 36 The results demonstrated that men and
– measured by heart rate, brain waves and
women who were die-hard fans were
perspiration – was comparable to what the
much more optimistic about their sex
fans registered when shown erotic photos
appeal after a victory. They were also
or pictures of animal attacks, he said.
more sanguine about their ability to
perform well at mental and physical tests,
31 For some fans, the emotional roller coaster
like darts and word games, Dr. Hirt found.
of watching a game can be addictive. John
When the team lost, that optimism
Herde, a 65-year-old accountant in
evaporated.
Manhattan, has been attending Rangers
games since he was a teenager and owns
37 ''People identify themselves with a team
season tickets. He remembers sitting in the
through thick and thin,'' he said. ''Your
upper rows of the old Madison Square
self-esteem will go up and down as your
Garden as a boy and banging on the ceiling
team does well or poorly.''
when the team scored.
38 Dr. Hirt said the desire to belong to a
32 What has brought him back to hockey
group or a society – a need once fulfilled
games again and again, he says, is the
mostly by religious and political
catharsis he feels when he gives free rein
organizations – may explain why some
to his anger or gloats openly in triumph.
fans remain loyal despite the repeated
failure of their teams. Fans of the Cubs, he
4
‫ קורסים מקוונים ללמידה עצמאית‬:‫אנגלית אקדמית‬
‫ בסיסי‬:‫רמה‬
Unit 6: Sport Psychology; It isn't Just a Game: Clues to avid Rooting :6 ‫יחידה‬
pointed out, have not enjoyed a World
Series championship since 1908. Yet
Wrigley Field sells out almost every
game. Fans of the Jets present another
example.
39 The team has not won a championship
since 1969, when Joe Namath led the Jets
to a Super Bowl. In 1985 the Jets moved
from Shea Stadium in Queens to Giants
Stadium in New Jersey, where they are a
tenant in another team's home.
He will drive only a green car. The room
of his 3-year-old son, Tyler, is a shrine to
the team, with footballs signed by several
Jets most valuable players, a hat signed by
Bill Parcells and a team jacket from 1966.
44 He says he still suffers with every loss.
When Vinny Testaverde, the team's
quarterback, ruptured his Achilles' tendon
early in the opening game last season, Mr.
Anzalone went to bed. ''I was sick to my
stomach,'' he said. ''I was sick that day. I
knew the year was shot.''
Keeping the Faith
40 Edward Anzalone, a New York City
firefighter, said he became fascinated with
the Jets when he was a boy in the 1960's,
and despite 30 years without a
championship, has never lost faith in the
team.
41 ''It's an obsession,'' he says. ''The fans
went over to New Jersey and are still
hanging tough, even with no stadium and
not winning a Super Bowl since 1969.''
42 These days, Mr. Anzalone, who is 40, is
better known as Fireman Eddie to Jets
fans. Every game, he rides on his brother
Frank's shoulders, wearing a green-andwhite fire helmet and leading the fans in a
J-E-T-S chant. His devotion to the team
has gained him some notoriety.
43 Mr. Anzalone's house in College Point,
Queens, is painted green, the Jets' color.
5
A Sense of Belonging
45 In most cases, this deep attachment to a
team can be healthy, studies have found.
Daniel Wann, a psychologist at Murray
State University in Kentucky, has done
several studies showing that an intense
interest in a team can buffer people from
depression and foster feelings of selfworth and belonging.
46 In 1991 Dr. Wann studied students at the
University of Kansas, demonstrating that
ardent fans of basketball and baseball
teams had higher levels of self-esteem and
suffered fewer bouts of depression than
did people who were not followers of
sports.
47 ''So many of the traditional institutions are
beginning to break down, religion and
family,'' Dr. Wann said. ''The human
psyche is the same and something has to
‫ קורסים מקוונים ללמידה עצמאית‬:‫אנגלית אקדמית‬
‫ בסיסי‬:‫רמה‬
Unit 6: Sport Psychology; It isn't Just a Game: Clues to avid Rooting :6 ‫יחידה‬
take the place of that. Sports fills an
important void.''
The New York Times, August 11, 2000.
6