Cause and Affect: Correlates and Emotional States Involved in Sport Fandom Frederick G. Grieve, Western Kentucky University; Ryan K. Zapalac, Sam Houston State University; Daniel L. Wann, Murray State University; Christian End, Xavier University; A. P. Vandemark & N. J. Foster, University of Missouri-Rolla; Jason R. Lanter & Beth Dietz-Uhler, Miami University The Coping Strategies of Highly Identified Sport Fans: The Importance of Team Success on Tendencies to Utilize Proactive Pessimism Daniel L. Wann, Murray State University & Frederick G. Grieve, Western Kentucky University Sports and Relationships: The Influence of Game Outcome on Romantic Relationships Christian End, XavierUniversity,; A. P. Vandemark, University of Missouri-Rolla; & N. J. Foster, University of Missouri-Rolla Violent Sports and Aggression: Can We Say “Cause” in the Middle? Frederick G. Grieve, & Justin Wright Western Kentucky University According to the Team Identification – Social Psychological Health Model (Wann, 2006), higher levels of identification can facilitate social well-being. An important component of the model involves the coping strategies used by highly identified fans to assist in the maintenance of their well-being. One strategy involves proactive pessimism in which persons become more pessimistic about an event as the event draws closer (Sheppard, Ouellette, & Fernandez, 1996). The current investigation we investigated the use of proactive pessimism among college basketball fans. Rather than assess evaluations of an upcoming season as with previous work on proactive pessimism among fans (Wann & Grieve, in press), we examined evaluations of a specific game.We hypothesized that participants would report less positive (i.e., more pessimistic) evaluations of their team’s chances at winning a target contest as the game approached. In addition, we expected the pattern of effects to be most prominent among highly identified fans. Method Participants: The sample consisted of 45 college students (19 men; 26 women) participating in exchange for college course credit (M age = 22.2 yr., SD = 5.0). Materials and Procedure: The Time 1 session occurred six weeks prior to a target basketball contest. Participants completed a packet assessing demographics (age and gender), the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS; Wann & Branscombe, 1993) with their university’s men’s basketball team as the target, and two items assessing expectations of success for their university’s team in an upcoming game. Respondents read “Who do you feel will win the game” and circled either their university’s team or the rival team and participants were asked to estimate the number of points they expected their university’s team to score in the contest. The Time 2 session occurred five weeks later. Participants completed the same packet except that that the gender and age items and identification scale were omitted from the Time 2 protocol. Target Contest: The contest involved a NCAA DI men’s basketball game between regional rivals. Participants were students at the visiting team’s university. Prior to the contest, their team had a 5-0 record. The home team had a 0-4 record. Results A median split was performed on the Time 1 identification scores to establish a low identification group (n = 21) and a high identification group (n = 24). Men and women did not significantly differ on any of the measures. With respect to estimates of the contest winner, proportions of participants predicting a victory for their university’s team were in direct opposition of the expected pattern. Tests of proportions revealed that the Time 1 (.49) to Time 2 (.82) increase in proportions for the entire sample was statistically significant, z = 3.29, p.20. However, for high identified fans, the Time 1 (.46) to Time 2 (.92) increase in proportions was significant, z = 3.45, p <.01. With respect to predictions of the number of points scored by the team in the target game, Time 1 and Time 2 estimates were examined using a 2 (Level of Team Identification: high or low) x 2 (Testing Session: Time 1 and Time 2) ANOVA. The ANOVA revealed a significant time main effect, F(1, 43) = 11.71, p.05. The two-way interaction was significant, F(1, 43) = 4.05, p.30. Discussion Proactive pessimism, or the tendency to become more pessimistic as a self-relevant event draws near, has been found to be used by sport fans as they attempt to cope with the threat of a potentially poor performance by their team (Wann & Grieve, in press). The current work extend past efforts by examining basketball fans’ evaluations of a specific game against a regional rival. It was hypothesized that highly identified fans would become more pessimistic (i.e., report lower chances of success and estimate fewer points scored for one’s team) as a rival game approached. Contrary to expectations, highly identified fans became more optimistic less pessimistic. To understand the results, one should consider the team’s performances prior to the contest. The home team had played well leading up to the game (they had a 5-0 record). It seems that the team’s successes rendered the use of proactive pessimism illogical. Because their team had been playing well, the threat of poor team performance may have seemed less likely. Rather, highly identified fans most likely gained confidence in their team, culminating in their expressions of optimism exhibited at Time 2. It appears that proactive pessimism is only employed in cases where fans’ expectations of success are not high. References Shepperd, J. A., Ouellette, J. A., & Fernandez, J. K. (1996). Abandoning unrealistic optimism: Performance estimates and the temporal proximity of self-relevant feedback. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, Wann, D. L. (2006). Understanding the positive social psychological benefits of sport team identification: The team identification – social psychological health model. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice.10, Wann, D. L., & Branscombe, N. R. (1993) Sports fans: measuring degree of identification with the team. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24, Wann, D. L., & Grieve, F. G. (in press). Use of proactive pessimism as a coping strategy for sport fans: The importance of team identification. Contemporary Athletics. Previous research in sport fandom demonstrates that the motives of sport fans and perceptions of being a sport fan vary based on the sex of the sport fan (Dietz-Uhler, Harrick, End, & Jacquemotte, 2000). Additionally, gender orientation was found to be a strong predictor for level of sport fandom (Wann, Waddill, & Dunham, 2004). This current study was designed to cut across these perceived differences to determine how fans of a particular sport are perceived, and to identify the characteristics associated with being a fan of a specific sport. Method One hundred fifty-nine undergraduate students (75 men, 82 women; mean age =19.2) participated in this online study for partial course credit. They completed the Sport Fandom Questionnaire (SFQ; Wann, 2002) to measure their level of sport fandom, along with several questions about their perceptions of the characteristics of fans for a variety of sport types. Participants were asked to describe the typical fan for a given sport, and responded on a nine-point Likert scale (1=not at all, 9=very much). The characteristics were clustered as follows; Negative (aggressive, violent, vulgar, prejudiced, insolent, insurgent, rude, fanatic, lazy, antisocial) Positive (intelligent, friendly, understanding, industrious, thoughtful, happy, tolerant, trustful, honest) Neutral (spontaneous, adventurous, nervous, introverted, persuasive) Additionally, the participants also reported perceived levels of masculinity, femininity, alcohol consumption, and income for each fan type. Results Not all sport fans are the same! There appears to be three clusters of fans: 1. Football/Hockey/NASCAR 2. Baseball/Basketball/Soccer 3. Figure Skating/Gymnastics There is a host of research that indicates exposure to violent media increases aggressive attitudes and behaviors. This includes exposure to violent movies, videogames, and music (Anderson, 1997; Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003; Anderson & Dill, 2000; Bushman, 1995; Bushman & Anderson, 2001; Bushman & Wells, 1998; Johnson, Cohen, Smailes, Karen, & Brook, 2002; Lewis, 2001; Phillips, 1986; Thomas, 1982). Thus, it seems likely that exposure to violent sports will have an affect on levels of aggression, as well. Method Participants for the study were 81 college-age students (32 men, 49 women) with a mean age of years (SD = 3.94). The participants were mostly freshmen (33%) and seniors (27%). Participants completed the Buss-Perry scale (Buss & Perry, 1992) of aggression prior to watching one of four 15-minute video clips: a nonviolent sport video (exciting soccer plays), a violent sport video (aggressive football plays), a nonviolent movie (Gorillas in the Mist) and a violent movie (Karate Kid). Following the video clip, participants completed a Word Completion task which included items that could be completed as either aggressive or nonaggressive words (e.g., SH_ _ T could be completed as SHOOT or SHIRT). Results A series of 2 (Media Type: Movie vs. Sport) X 2 (Level of Violence: Violent vs. Nonviolent) ANOVAS were computed. Pretest: There was a main effect for media type in that people who watched the sport videos had higher scores on the Buss- Perry scale than people who watched movie clips. Therefore, scores on the Buss-Perry were used as a covariate for the final analysis. Posttest: There was a main effect for violence. Participants who watched violent media, regardless of type, created more aggressive words than people who watched nonviolent media. There were no other main effects or interaction effects. ViolentNonviolent Movie0.41 (0.13)0.29 (0.10) Sport0.37 (0.13)0.34 (0.09) Discussion Watching violent sports has similar effects as watching violent movies. (Though, looking at the cells, it appears that movies had a greater effect than sports, but it does not appear to be statistically significant.) Talk to me about the problems that could result from this. Research has shown that sport is perceived to have a positive impact on married romantic relationships (Gantz, Wenner, Carrico &Knorr, 1995). Because married relationships often differ from "dating" or non-married romantic relationships (stronger level of commitment, history, etc.), our purpose was to determine if sport fan behavior influences less committed romantic relationships. More specifically, whether the outcome of a game influence mood, and if so how do these mood changes impact interactions between romantic partners. Method 106 undergraduate students completed Sport and Relationship Questionnaires during a departmental mass-testing session. These questionnaires included measures of romantic jealousy, a "Post-Game Mood Scale", and a demographic survey. In order to assess how game outcome impacts relationships, participants were presented a variety of statements such as, "When my significant other's team wins, I really enjoy their company," and, "After losses, I sometimes fear being yelled at by my significant other." Then, using a 7-point Likert scale, participants were asked to rate how much they agreed or disagreed with each statement Table 1: Outcome’s Impact on Relationships OutcomeWin Loss Positive mood**2.03(1.36)4.14(1.86) Negative mood**2.92(1.72)1.74(1.22) Irritable**1.53(0.94)2.13(1.47) Enjoy presence**5.11(1.69)4.50(1.80) Talk about the game*4.68(1.65)4.43(1.65) Avoid2.44(1.46)2.60(1.50) Be yelled at*1.65(1.32)1.81(1.44) Argue1.68(1.07)1.70(1.25) Violent1.59(1.29)1.62(1.22) Afraid to be around1.69(1.19)1.81(1.33) * p <.01, ** p <.001 Results T-tests were used to compare how outcome influences post game moods and interaction tendencies. Participants perceive that the outcome of the game influences their romantic partner's mood. Specifically, participants perceived that in comparison to victories their partner would exhibit less positive affect, more negative affect, and would be more irritable following losses. Additionally, participants reported that they are less likely to enjoy their partner's company, are more likely to avoid their partner, experience more fear of their partner, and are more likely to be yelled at following losses. Past research has demonstrated that a loss can negatively influence a fan who identifies with the losing team. Our research suggests that the outcome of an athletic contest may extend beyond the fan of the losing team and negatively impact the fan's romantic partner. Are All Sports Fans the Same? Jason R. Lanter & Beth Dietz-Uhler Miami University