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Prior research indicates that when we shared a part of a social identity with others, we tend to include or exclude them from our in-group depending on their success and failure. In this research, we investigated the extent to which this strategy (i.e., MOATing, “moving others away/toward the in-group”) is used for self-enhancement as compared to self-protection. Our experiment included a stereotype measure that assessed whether others were perceived as more typical of the in-group or the out-group. The results generally replicate those of prior research and suggest that MOATing primarily serves a self-enhancement function. We discuss theoretical and methodological implications.

In this research, the authors propose to re-explore the relationship between team identification and supporters’ post-game identity management strategies using the two self-conscious emotions of pride and shame as mediating variables. The moderated mediated results indicated that pride mediated the links between team identification and the strategy of status display (i.e., boosting) following victories, and to a lesser extent, following defeats and draws. By contrast, it was shown that shame mediated the relationship between team identification and social creativity strategy (i.e., NCDing) exclusively following defeats. In closing, we discuss the theoretical implications of those findings before proposing a number of avenues for future research.

Through inter-contextual designs, the present set of experiments sought to explore whether the colour yellow would impact on social perceptions of sportspersonship exclusively in relation to competitive cycling. In Experiment 1 (N = 149), a silhouette image of a cyclist on a yellow background yielded lower perceptions of sportspersonship in comparison to grey or to the context of motocross, regardless of the colour. That interaction was conceptually replicated in Experiment 2 (N = 146) while changing measures (i.e., adaptation of the World Anti-Doping Code) and the context of comparison to sprinting. Furthermore, female and male observers' scores did not differ significantly thereby suggesting that yellow impacted on perceived sportspersonship similarly across gender. On the whole, those findings suggest that yellow can generate negative impressions of racing cyclists because, with years, this colour took on a meaning of opportunism from frequent pairings with doping. We close with discussing a number of limitations and future research avenues.

International audience

L’analyse des strategies developpees par les supporters, suite a des performances d’equipes sportives (par exemple, MATing, blasting et boosting), est un theme qui a ete presque exclusivement etudie dans un contexte nord-americain. L’objectif de cette etude exploratoire est de montrer, dans le contexte specifique du rugby francais, que ces strategies, generalement attribuees aux niveaux d’identification aux equipes, peuvent etre, egalement, dependantes des modes de structuration des groupes : soit de type « ultra » (caracterise principalement par une volonte d’autonomisation positive vis-a-vis des autres groupes du club, associe a des normes elitistes et competitives, en lien avec la supra categorie), soit de type « traditionnel » (sans revendication specifique de l’identite propre du groupe de supporters, par rapport aux autres groupes co-presents). Dans ce but, 176 supporters d’equipes du championnat francais Elite ont ete sollicites (87 supporters supposes ultras et 89 traditionnels). Le mode de structuration de ces groupes a ete analyse (phase 1) et, dans l’ensemble, confirme. Les resultats sur les strategies (phase 2)montrent que les supporters ultras admettent vouloir rentrer davantage en confrontation avec les supporters adverses (c’est-a-dire, blasting) et revendiquent davantage leur lien a l’equipe (c’est-a-dire, MATing), que les supporters traditionnels, quel que soit le resultat du match. De plus, la strategie de blasting est davantage utilisee par les ultras, suite aux defaites qu’aux victoires de leur equipe. Les limites et perspectives de ce travail exploratoire concluent cet article.

We investigated the social image of anabolic steroids (AS) users grounding our analysis on the achievement goal theory of Nicholls. Our main goal was to explore how an athlete's acceptance of AS use would impact on the way that athlete will be perceived by others. Non-AS-using participants reacted to one of two scenarios portraying a male athlete either accepting or refusing to engage in drug use behavior. The results suggested that the acceptance of anabolic steroids yielded an unfavorable social image--perceivers inferred a predominant ego orientation to characterize the AS-user's motivation as well as weaker sportspersonship and a stronger proclivity for reactive aggression than instrumental aggression. Moreover, the analyses did not yield significant gender or interaction effects. Finally, those findings are commented in view of methodological shortcomings and of the perspectives that they may offer for future research concerning the motivational aspects of the social perceptions of drug use in sport.

Fans' Reactions to their Team Victories: An Exploratory Look at the COFFING Process in Elite Sport Fandom The goal of this study was to provide preliminary data pertaining to the identity management process of COFFing (i.e, Cutting of Future Failure; Wann, Hamlet, Wilson, & Hodges, 1995) within the realm of sport fandom. When COFFing, fans who support a low or middle status team (i.e., relatively poorly ranked) tend to hold out enthusiasm about their team victories as a self-protective strategy against the likely advent of future failures. The present mixed sample was comprised of 93 highly involved rugby fans showing allegiance to either a middle status or a high status team. Results first revealed that, compared to fans of high status team, fans of middle status team were less likely to BIRG and were less optimistic about their local team future performances when controlling for team identification level. Secondly, with respect to the role of team identification in the COFFing process for fans of middle status team, a positive correlation was found between team identification, BIRGing and prediction of future performances.

The object of this investigation was to clarify certain mechanisms of identity categorization by studying, from a sociohistorical and psychological perspective, two groups of soccer fans from the city of Marseille. Through this pluralistic social approach, a more precise differentiation of the types of identity construction for both groups was able to be determined. Each type is the product of identity crossbreeding, dependant on specific social, historical and psychological factors. The “Commando Ultra” (“CU”) group develops a conservative attitude in that its national culture becomes a reference criterion for ethnocentric fans. The fan group, “South Winners” (“SW”) develops a syncretistic attitude for regional fans who defend the multicultural identity of Marseille.

This exploratory investigation examined female non sport fans’ (NSFs) impressions of male and female sport fans (SFs) who were supporting either a male or female sextyped sport. Based on the basic tenets of contemporary models of person perception (Bodenhausen et al., 2007; Brewer, 1988; Devine, 1989; Fiske & Neuberg, 1990), we predicted that processes of stereotyping would take place amongst our sample of female NSFs so that masculine elements (i.e., gender and sex‐typing) would foster negative perceptions of SFs, whereas feminine elements would yield positive perceptions. To this end, 176 female students (Mage = 20.31 years) completed scales assessing their perceptions of a sport fan described in one of four hypothetical scenarios (i.e., female SF supporting a female or male sport and male SF supporting a male or female sport). As expected, the results of a MANOVA indicated that female SFs supporting a female sport were perceived more positively (i.e., as less likely to engage in deviant behavi...

Prior work on the relationships between team identification and spectators' reactions to one's team victory has largely neglected the potential effects of mediating variables. In this research, we proposed that the process of Basking in Reflected Glory [BIRGing - the tendency to reduce the distance between oneself and one's team; Cialdini, R. B., Bordon, R. J., Thorne, A., Walker, M. R., Freeman, S., & Sloan, L. R. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 366-375] would lead spectators to almost take ownership of victories and share its benefits, thereby impacting their sense of national belonging in a positive manner. To this end, participants (N = 73) were asked to watch an edited video clip showing a victory of the French national rugby team playing against South Africa. As expected, results revealed that BIRGing mediated the relationship between team identification and one's sense of national belonging. In closing, a number of implications are discussed along with future research avenues pertaining to the sport spectatorship literature.

This study examines, in soccer fanzines, two identity-management strategies—basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) and blasting—of two groups of highly identified soccer fans with allegiance to the same team. Results show strong support for the BIRG phenomenon among both ultra fan groups but little evidence of the blasting phenomenon among either group. The implications of these findings are discussed in regard to social identity management among sports fans.

Cet article propose une etude des modes de gestion identitaire chez deux groupes de supporters ultras francais, les South Winners (SW) et le Commando Ultra (CU), qui soutiennent la meme equipe de Marseille. La Theorie de l'identite sociale et celle de l'auto categorisation constituent notre cadre d'analyse. Nous avons degage les caracteristiques socio-structurelles de statut, de legitimite et de stabilite des SW et du CU a partir d'informations socio-historiques. Quarante recits de matchs entre 1997 et 2003 diffuses dans les fanzines des deux groupes ont ete analyses a l'aide de la psychologie sociale du langage. Les resultats obtenus nous ont permis de mettre en evidence des strategies de management identitaire differents, de type « egocentrique » pour le CU caracterise principalement par une strategie de « comparaison avec le standard » et de type regionaliste pour les SW qui repose essentiellement sur une « recategorisation supra-ordonnee ».

International audience; Due to the works of Wann and colleagues, spectators' identification with teams has taken on a central role in the study of sports spectators' thought and behavior. However, no research in this area has measured identification with sports teams in the French context. Two studies attempted to develop a valid and reliable French version of the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS) developed by Wann and Branscombe in 1993 to measure team identification. In Study 1, 200 physical education students completed a French translation of the SSIS and several questions concerning their involvement, investment, and evaluation of the team's future performance. Results showed that the French translation of the SSIS is a reliable and one-dimensional instrument: strong relationships were found between identification with professional French teams and these variables. In Study 2, 143 physical education students completed the SSIS with a National sport team as the target team. Results confirmed the psychometric properties of the scale and indicated that persons who strongly identify with the National soccer team reported more involvement with the team and were more optimistic about future performances than persons low in identification.

The authors demonstrate in three experiments (N = 241) that yellow impacts on social perceptions when associated with competitive cycling. In Experiment 1, the image of a syringe evocated competitive cycling and doping more strongly when presented on yellow as compared with gray. In Experiment 2, a performance improvement scenario yielded more discredit of a depicted racer and higher suspicions of doping when ending on a yellow frame, as opposed to a gray one. In Experiment 3, the image of a racer wearing a yellow jersey (instead of a gray or a white one) yielded the lowest scores on measures of suitability as a role model and attractiveness of sport participation. Moreover, no significant differences emerged for gender, thereby suggesting equivalent effects for female and male participants. Finally, the authors discuss conceptual and practical implications as well as limitations before proposing a number of avenues for future research.

Objectives: A growing body of literature associates sportspersonship to athletic aggression. The present set of studies tested a model based on three propositions: (a) self-determined sport motivation will be positively predictive of sportspersonship orientations, (b) sportspersonship orientations will mediate the relationship between self-determined sport motivation and athletic aggression, and (c) sportspersonship orientations will impact athletic aggression in two distinctive ways. That is, we anticipated a positive relationship between sportspersonship orientations and instrumental aggression, whereas we expected a negative relationship between these orientations and reactive aggression. Design and method: Two cross-sectional studies involving 102 male physical education students (mean age=20.7 years) for Study 1, and 202 male athletes (mean age=24.1 years) for Study 2. In both studies, participants completed the same set of scales: Sport Motivation Scale, Multidimensional Sportspersonship Orientations Scale, and Bredemeier’s Athletic Aggression Inventory. Results: In Study 1, the results of multiple regression analyses supported the proposed model. Structural equation modeling analyses (which involved the testing of an alternative model) were conducted in Study 2. Analyses yielded convergent results. Conclusion: Additional research will be needed in order to confirm, and possibly extend, the present correlational findings. Longitudinal designs and observational measures, in particular, would represent significant methodological improvements that would help better ascertain the mediational processes proposed in our model.

This research investigated the role of two foci of identification (team and territory) on identity management strategies used by sport followers in the particular context of elite French rugby union. In study 1 which dealt with casual spectators (N = 153), the results corroborated numerous studies conducted in the North-American context and showed that team identification constitutes a strong driver for offensive and loyalty reactions. In study 2 which dealt with die-hard fans (N = 64), it appeared that team identification seems to be the best predictor of team loyalty strategy whereas territorial identification seems to be the first predictor of offensive strategies. Taken together, the studies showed the importance of considering the specific context in which sport fanship takes place.

This research aimed to investigate the possible relationships between the concepts of consumer loyalty (attitudinal and behavioral), satisfaction, and team identification in the context of sport spectatorship. Specifically, several models were tested to investigate (1) the direct influence of team identification, consumer behavioral loyalty, and consumer satisfaction on consumer attitudinal loyalty, and (2) the mediating or moderating role of team identification in the relationship between consumer satisfaction, behavioral loyalty, and attitudinal loyalty. Results from a sample of 395 spectators of French ice hockey first division clubs revealed that consumer transaction–specific satisfaction was found to be the stronger predictor for consumer attitudinal loyalty alongside team identification and the average number of home games attended per year. A second indirect route is possible because team identification was also found to play a mediating role between consumer transaction–specific satisfaction, home and away games attended per year, and some dimensions of consumer attitudinal loyalty. Finally, team identification was also found to moderate the impact of consumer satisfaction and the number of away games attended on different facets of attitudinal loyalty. Marketing and theoretical implications are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

International audience; This study's goal was to create and test a tool for identifying different types of sport spectators. Based on four types of sporting-event consumers – aesthete, interactive, supporter, and opportunist – we developed the Sporting Event Experience Search Scale (SEES). We conducted an empirical investigation involving two sporting events with both live and mediated types of attendance. Although the first validation step failed to support the four-type structure for the mediated context, the scale appeared to be relevant in a live-attendance context. The SEES scale should therefore allow sporting-event managers to analyse the nature and then the expectations of sport spectators by identifying which sporting event consumption type is dominant. This study consequently proposes four marketing axes corresponding to the four consumption patterns.

The aim of this exploratory research was to refine the relationship between ingroup identification and three classical identity-management strategies: individual mobility, social competition and social creativity. More specifically, in the particular context of sport spectators’ reactions to their team loss, we tested the moderating role of gender in differentiating the use of CORFing (distancing) strategy and the mediating role of negative mood in differentiating the use of social competition and social creativity strategies. To this end, 173 French physical education students were asked to watch an edited video clip about a defeat of the French national rugby union team. As expected, and consistent with past research, results first showed that the amount of team identification is a reliable determinant of the participants’ choice of an identity management strategy. Highly identified spectators were more associated with engaging themselves in ingroup-protective behaviors (i.e., blasting and boosting) than spectators low in team identification who, in contrast, privileged distancing strategies (i.e., CORFing). Moreover, results revealed that participant’s gender moderates the link between ingroup identification and CORFing strategy, and that negative mood mediates the ingroup identification—blasting strategy relationship. Theoretical implications of these moderating and mediating effects are then discussed.

ResumeLes comportements de soutien des supporters ultras de football a leur equipe sont un phenomene qui fait souvent l’actualite. Se basant sur les principes theoriques de la perspective de l’identite sociale, cet article se propose d’analyser en quoi la litterature actuelle sur le supporterisme constitue un outil efficace pour comprendre les reactions des supporters ultras du football europeen souvent qualifies d’extremistes. A premiere vue, il apparait que la grande majorite des travaux sur le supporterisme provient des Etats-Unis (presque 65 % des publications sur les strategies de gestion identitaire) et a ete realisee sur des etudiants encourageant des equipes sportives universitaires. Cette domination nord-americaine dans le champ se marque a travers des choix theoriques recurrents (i.e., prise en compte presque exclusivement du niveau d’identification a l’equipe et du resultat du match), renforcant par consequent le questionnement quant a la generalisation stricto sensu de ces resultats pour une comprehension plusfine du supporterisme ultra europeen. S’appuyant sur ces limites, un certain nombre de perspectives de recherches, liees principalement a la necessite d’adopter une demarche contextuelle faisant appel a l’interdisciplinarite, ainsi que de construire une nouvelle mesure d’identification a l’equipe, clo t cet article.

International audience

International audience; The purpose of this research was to identify the contribution of sporting event service attributes to spectator satisfaction in a French ice hockey context. Based on the tetra-class model, the results demonstrated that some service attribute contributions vary upon spectator's team identification whereas some do not. This survey highlighted the prior and non-prior service attributes in order to satisfy spectators, amateurs and fans and reinforced the crucial role of segmentation in sport event attendance analysis.