title: Football fan aggression: the importance of low Basal cortisol and a fair referee.
abstract: Fan aggression in football (soccer) is a societal problem that affects many countries worldwide. However, to date, most studies use an epidemiological or survey approach to explain football fan aggression. This study used a controlled laboratory study to advance a model of predictors for fan aggression. To do so, football fans (n = 74) saw a match summary in which their favorite team lost against their most important rival. Next, we measured levels of aggression with the hot sauce paradigm, in which fans were given the opportunity to administer a sample of hot sauce that a rival football supporter had to consume. To investigate if media exposure had the ability to reduce aggression, before the match fans saw a video in which fans of the rival team commented in a neutral, negative, or positive manner on their favorite team. Results showed that the media exposure did not affect aggression. However, participants displayed high levels of aggression and anger after having watched the match. Also, aggression was higher in fans with lower basal cortisol levels, which suggests that part of the aggression displayed was proactive and related to anti-social behavior. Furthermore, aggression was higher when the referee was blamed and aggression was lower when the performance of the participants' favorite team was blamed for the match result. These results indicate that aggression increased when the match result was perceived as unfair. Interventions that aim to reduce football fan aggression should give special attention to the perceived fairness of the match result.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Leander
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van der Meij
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klauke
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hannah L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yannick S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychobiology, Valencia, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Almela
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul A M
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van Lange
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000786:Anger; D003146:Communications Media; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012916:Soccer / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
references.citation: Percept Mot Skills. 1999 Jun;88(3 Pt 2):1296-8
references.pmid: 10485114
references.citation: Psychiatry Res. 2005 Mar 30;134(1):1-10
references.pmid: 15808285
references.citation: J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2005 Aug;112(8):1083-96
references.pmid: 15583952
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2006 Sep;132(5):751-77
references.pmid: 16910753
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2008 Nov;44(6):1764-78
references.pmid: 18999337
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009 Nov;34(10):1437-48
references.pmid: 19632788
references.citation: Q J Econ. 2011;126(1):103-43
references.pmid: 21853617
references.citation: PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e34814
references.pmid: 22529940
references.citation: PLoS One. 2014;9(1):e85691
references.pmid: 24416441
references.citation: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2000 Jan;57(1):38-43
references.pmid: 10632231
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001 May;80(5):797-803
references.pmid: 11374750
references.citation: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2003 Sep;42(9):1101-7
references.pmid: 12960710
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Jun;54(6):1063-70
references.pmid: 3397865
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1989 Jul;106(1):59-73
references.pmid: 2667009
references.citation: Epidemiology. 1990 Jan;1(1):43-6
references.pmid: 2081237
references.citation: Br J Psychol. 1991 Feb;82 ( Pt 1):1-28
references.pmid: 2029601
references.citation: BMJ. 1998 Apr 18;316(7139):1236-8
references.pmid: 9553006
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1998 Aug;65(1):59-62
references.pmid: 9811365