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Previous research in fan aggression has revealed that a large percentage of individuals admit a willingness to commit acts of aggression against opposing players or coaches (e.g., Wann et al., 2005). Fans high in team identification tend to endorse this willingness more strongly than those with low team identification. Further, research outside of the sport domain has found that individuals higher in trait aggression are more likely to engage in aggressive behaviors (e.g., Bettencourt et al., 2006). The current investigation was designed to examine how team identification relates to sport fans' willingness to commit acts of aggression against opponents of a self-selected favorite team. Additionally, trait aggression was analyzed as a potential predictor of aggression. The sample consisted of 200 college students at a mid-Atlantic university. Results indicated a weak relationship between team identification and willingness to commit aggressive acts against opponents, a relationship that was nearly eliminated when controlling for sport fandom. Trait aggression accounted for a significant amount of the variance for admitting a willingness to commit aggression against the opposition, with hostility being the most common predictor for the different aggressive acts. There were no differences in sport fandom, identification, or willingness to commit aggressive acts for professional or collegiate sport teams. The results suggest that spectators still possess hostile cognitions toward opponents of their favorite teams, and implications for reducing fan aggression and possibilities for future research are discussed.
Aggression and violence in sport do not only occur within competition and among athletes, but can also be carried out by sport fans. Throughout history, many fans have aggressed against athletes. There are well over 150 incidents of this that have been documented (List of violent spectator incidents in sport, n.d.), and this is likely not an exhaustive list. One of the most famous of these incidents includes the stabbing of tennis star Monica Seles by an obsessed fan of her rival, Steffi Graff (Busbee, 2013). Seles stayed away from tennis for two years following this attack. Although this occurred over 20 years ago, these types of incidents still occur today (List of violent spectator incidents in sport, n.d.). Therefore, understanding factors that may contribute to these instances of fan aggression is an important area of investigation.
Aggression generally refers to...