With the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles set to take place today, it’s a good time to reflect on what it means to be a fan. As some sports fans already know, the term “fan” was originally derived from the word “fanatic”, suggesting that from the beginning fans carried with them an enthusiastic, possibly even crazed level of emotional involvement in support of one’s favorite sports team, athlete, musical artist, or some other celebrity or cause. 

The psychological underpinnings of fandom are complicated, but there seems to consistently be a level of identification we experience when we are a fan of something. In psychoanalytic theory, identification is an unconscious process by which we experience a sense of similarity to another person by taking on aspects of them and becoming like them. There may be many logical reasons for this. To start, as children we do not have a sturdy, defined ego and sense of identity, so we often idealize our parents, teachers, older siblings, friends, or others in our social environment. From an evolutionary standpoint, we have much to gain by emulating those who possess admirable traits. We also experience increased self-esteem and identity from being similar to those we respect. Take for instance the young child who helps his parents cook dinner. If all goes well, the child experiences an uplifting sense of being similar to the people they literally and figuratively look up to. We can also see how children and teenagers often adopt traits of some of their friends, adapting fashion, speech, and interests that are viewed as attractive. Identification in this way can promote a sense of belonging, acceptance, and self-esteem, even if it might limit one’s distinct individuality. 

A similar process occurs as fans of a sports team. We experience a vicarious sense of being a “winner” when our team wins and, conversely, feeling more like a “loser” when our team loses. Through the power of identification, we come to endure the same emotional peaks and valleys that our favorite teams or athletes go through. A 1998 study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior found that fans experienced a boost in testosterone levels when their favorite team won, while fans of the losing team experienced a drop in testosterone. Our bodies physiologically respond according to the success or failure of our favorite team. 

I would argue that the intensity of changes to self-esteem, and possibly testosterone levels too, might be mediated by the person’s general level of self-esteem. For example, someone with generally high self-esteem would be less impacted by their favorite sports team losing than someone with lower self-esteem. If a large amount of a person’s self-worth hinges on a random event that technically has nothing to do with them, that person would likely be unconsciously attaching their internal state to unreliable outer events in the world, which are likely to be highly unpredictable. They would also likely associate other adverse events as being reflective of their own shortcomings. Because identification can serve a function of bolstering an undeveloped ego, it can also serve the function of diminishing an already compromised ego. I remember crying as a young kid because my favorite football team, the Minnesota Vikings, lost on Monday Night Football (to be clear, it was a heartbreaking ending to the game). But as an adult, maybe from having to endure so many years of sports disappointments or maybe because I have a stronger ego, my eyes only partially well up when my beloved Vikings lose a game. 

But why do we attach our self regard to the whims of sporting events? Maybe it’s more than just simple identification at play with fandom. I think it also relates to issues of competitiveness and conditional self-worth. If we are inclined to believe that our value depends on winning, being the best, or achieving something, we are much more likely to experience a football game that might be happening 3,000 miles away, between players we’ve never met, as yet another arena where our self-image is either enhanced or diminished. 

I would also argue that fandom provides an arena to experience and act out aggression. When one team emerges victorious over another, we often refer to that as “beating” the other team, revealing a blatant aggressive aspect to the competitive game. It’s common at sporting events to see fans break out into fistfights: sometimes fans of opposing teams and sometimes fans of the same team. A person’s identification with their team takes on a tribal mindset that seeks to eradicate some threatening “other”. Craving a sense of in-group belonging often breeds hostile contempt for those in the out-group, this can be seen in the fanatical behavior of cults, gangs, religions or even political parties.

Sources

Bernhardt, P. C., Dabbs Jr, J. M., Fielden, J. A., & Lutter, C. D. (1998). Testosterone changes during vicarious experiences of winning and losing among fans at sporting events. Physiology & Behavior, 65(1), 59–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0031-9384(98)00147-4