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Crowd Behaviour in Sports
[edit]This article is about social processes and behaviours that take place within crowds of supporters at sporting events. For the literal definition, see Crowd.
Crowd Behaviour in Sports refers to the actions and outcomes caused by spectators which can impact the event through various social processes, such as conformity, identification (psychology) and reinforcement. It is how vast amounts of different people are, spontaneously, able to act together in cohesive and pro-social ways (Drury & Reicher, 2020)[1], with the risk of antisocial behaviour. Both positive and negative crowd behaviours may be displayed in the form of cheering and chanting as well as alternatively, frustration, fighting and Hooliganism. Psychological theories including Social Identity Theory, Deindividuation Theory and the Emergent Norm Theory can be used to explain these behaviours.
Historical Context
[edit]Crowds at official and non-official sporting events have been watching their teams and athletes for centuries. The first recorded spectators of sport were in ancient times, particularly in Ancient Greece, where the Greeks were deemed fit to compete, whilst the Romans were to spectate (Guttmann, 1981)[2]. The Olympics are said to have been founded in Ancient Greece, with an estimated 50,000 spectators coming to watch within the second century AD (Christensen, 2024)[3].
In the Middle Ages, sports and spectators were more related to class rather than enjoyment of these sports, with the rare change in hierarchy (Allen, 1981) [2]. The main spectator sports of these times were combat sports: jousting, fighting, archery etc. In the years after, these sports became much more regulated and less violent, due to a reduction in political and international warfare.
In the Renaissance period, more tournaments and festivals were held for spectators to watch and enjoy, with news of their commencement circulating months before [2]. Games and sports were being rejuvenated to the spectators' liking. Public places in Rome, Siena, Perugia and Venice were host to a wide range of sports for spectators to enjoy; mock combat, equestrian, calcio games etc,. (McClelland, 2003)[4]
In modern times, sport is a hub for tourism, leisure, and entertainment and allows fans and spectators to travel globally to watch their favourite athletes and teams compete in thousands of different competitions. Stadiums have evolved to hold tens of thousands of people, with the world's largest (accessible) stadium, Narendra Modi Stadium, India, with a capacity of 130,000 people [5]. Spectators of the most popular sports: football, cricket and rugby, can travel worldwide to watch their countries compete in international tournaments such as the World Cup, taking place every four years. Spectator's behaviours have grown and adapted in line with the growth of professional sports, allowing for increased accessibility to the public's favourite teams and athletes.
Types of Crowd Behaviours in Sports and Influencing Factors
[edit]Spectators at sporting events show various types of behaviours, ranging from singing and chanting, to frustration, aggression, and even fighting between fans. The aforementioned positive behaviours of chanting and singing relate to a crowd's opinion of the event they are spectating. Various songs, made up by fans of their club, echo around the grounds and venues on a match day. From 'Blue Moon' at Manchester City FC[6] to the goal song of the ice hockey team Minnesota Wild, in which fans chant 'Let's go Crazy' in harmony (McLellen, 2020) [7] when they score a goal. These chants show off the fan's social identities and show their collective membership to their team, club or athlete (File & Worlledge, 2023)[8].
Alternatively, negative crowd behaviours may appear when their team are losing or not playing well. This can be in the form of fighting, inappropriate chants and visible and auditory signs of frustration. As mentioned by Smith, 1975 "Defeat is an intolerable deprivation" [9], meaning that to lose is unimaginable and winning is the only acceptable outcome for supporters and athletes alike. This correlates back to the fan's behaviours, in which they show their dissatisfaction and annoyance at their team's and players' performances. Hooliganism has been around for years, with a large increase in violence being accredited to football hooliganism. In Britain, this became prevalent within football before the First World War, where 'fans' would attack opposing players and officials (Dunning et al., 2014) [10]. In the 80s and '90s, however, was when the most attention was paid to it via the media, where policing was ramped up, and anti-hooligan measures were implemented, such as undercover police and CCTV, in order to try and sentence those leaders of the hooligan firms (Gibbons et al., 2007)[11]. These behaviours became a common problem within many football teams, where fights would happen almost every week - however, due to the large crowd, it was difficult to individualise the behaviours to certain fans, an example of anonymity.
There are many reasons as to why trouble occurs at sporting events within the fans and spectator groups. Internal factors include mental state as well as influence from close friends/group members. The Reversal Theory (Kerr, 1994) highlights how human behaviour is inconsistent, which is relevant to spectators due to the fact they may apply the rules in one aspect, but completely disregard them in another (e.g. fighting, throwing missiles) (Spaaij, 2014)[12]
External factors also play a huge part, which comes in the form of stadium layout, team performance and intensity and stakes of the event. Certain events will not allow home and away fans to come in contact at all. A study in Sweden found that if a better team were to play below expectation, violence was more likely to be incited than if a worse team played badly (Priks, 2014) [13]. These external factors increase aggravation due to them being out of the fan's control, causing rage and outbursts, in the form of violence and verbal aggression.
Theories relating to certain Crowd Behaviours
[edit]There is a wide range of theories that can be applied to explain sports spectator's behaviours, in terms of why certain behaviours occur and the effect of these.
Social Identity Theory
[edit]Social identity theory was developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1979[14] and is based on individuals' allegiance to their group, and how this membership shapes their self-concept and identity[15](Neighbors et al, 2013). This is relevant to fan behaviour as at sporting events, team fans usually have strong links and associations towards their club, showing their social identity towards that group. Research into football fans has highlighted that misunderstood social identity has caused tensions to flare with police in the past, where normal English fans at the 1990 World Cup (Italy) were commonly treated as 'hooligans', causing indiscriminate action from the police force[16] (Stott et al, 2012). Most fans want to represent their club and freely show their views of support, but this can be interpreted by authorities as hooligan or thug-like behaviour in many ways. Despite this, most involved in sports believe that the presence of fans can contribute to success on the field, which was most frequently discussed when players were interviewed about external factors affecting performance (Fothergill et al., 2014)[17]
Deindividuation Theory
[edit]The Deindividuation Theory, first demonstrated by Leon Festinger, explains how people change their behaviour and act within a group, as they do not see themselves as individuals, which in turn causes antisocial behaviour (Villanova et al., 2017)[18]. This theory can be related to spectators of sports as it highlights one of the main problems in the prevalence of antinormative behaviour among large groups of fans.
The two main sub-mechanisms[19] of the theory are anonymity - an inability of others to identify a specific individual or for others to identify themselves (Christopherson, 2007) [20] and conformity, which comes under many definitions but in this context refers to changing behaviour as a result of direct or indirect pressure from the rest of the group or crowd, whether it is real or imagined (Asch, 1952) [21] . In sports crowds, there are thousands of individuals, merged into one large group in a stand or area of an arena, and so identifying individuals is difficult. Therefore, this gives a platform for individuals to exhibit shocking behaviour patterns, such as throwing objects, racial or homophobic abuse or causing harm to others. A study conducted on racism in 3 of the top professional sporting leagues in Australia (Australian Football League, National Rugby League and the A-League) found that spectator racism was extremely prevalent towards Indigenous athletes due to the large White following in Australian sports. However because of the large crowds and 'conformity', report rates were at 3%, 2% and 1% respectively (Cleland et al., 2024) [22]. This allows those committing these hate crimes to continue and poor behaviour from crowds to increase due to inadequate policing methods and lack of awareness of services available to report this type of behaviour.
Emergent Norm Theory
[edit]The Emergent Norm Theory, proposed by Turner and Killian (1957), is based on the fact that antisocial behaviour develops in large crowds due to new behavioural norms being formed in ambiguous situations where the flexibility of behaviour is high (Arthur, 2022)[23]. In terms of sports spectators, individuals may act inhumanly as a result of a decision on-field by a player or referee, in which they may produce behaviours unlikely of themselves. For example, throwing objects or storming the field is common in college American football games if a team defeats a major rival or pulls off an upset. In an NFL game in the '70s between the New England Patriots and the fans were so adrenalised that chaos caused twenty-two to be booked for throwing objects, two for both assault and battery and over thirty were hospitalised - all as a result of the game's outcome (Kutcher, 1983)[24]. This can be described as the 'Cathartic Effect', whereby anger is released in the form of violence and aggression (Zhan et al., 2021)[25]. The Emergent Norm Theory acts as a guideline for abnormal behaviours when in larger groups, that don't fit with an individual's personality.
Overview
[edit]Ultimately, crowd behaviour in sports is determined by a range of psychological theories, social factors and environmental aspects. The Social Identity theory explains why spectators get so involved in their team's success and loss through their allegiance, whilst the Deindividuation theory highlights how behaviours can go from positive to extremely negative due to low risk of consequence. This has been highlighted in various examples in modern-day sports, where events such as assaults and pitch invasions have put these theories into perspective. Understanding these mechanisms will allow for a safer and more positive spectator experience in the future, with the development of more advanced technologies that can measure these behaviours before they get out of hand and remove the risk of extreme physical violence and verbal abuse.
- ^ Drury, John; Reicher, Stephen (2020-08-27), "Crowds and Collective Behavior", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.001.0001/acrefore-9780190236557-e-304, ISBN 978-0-19-023655-7, retrieved 2024-12-13
- ^ a b c Guttmann, Allen (1981). "Sports Spectators from Antiquity to the Renaissance". Journal of Sport History. 8 (2): 5–27. ISSN 0094-1700.
- ^ Christesen, Paul (December, 2024). "A Spectator's Guide to the Ancient Olympic Games". Olympics.com. Retrieved 13th December 2024.
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- ^ O'Keefe, Ben McKimm, Aimee (2024-08-29). "12 Biggest Stadiums in the World, Ranked By Capacity". Man of Many. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
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- ^ McLellan, Sarah (24 June 2020). "Minnesota sports traditions: 'Crowd Chant' entrenched again as Wild's goal song". ProQuest. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
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