Personality and Team Identification Predict Violent Intentions Among Soccer Supporters.

Joanna Lindström

doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.741277

Abstract

Soccer supporter violence remains a persistent global problem. The majority of research examining the psychological underpinnings of soccer supporter violence have focused primarily on the role of team identification. Relatively little research has examined the role of basic personality traits and willingness to engage in violence amongst soccer supporters. In a study amongst Swedish soccer supporters (N = 247), we examined whether honesty-humility and team identification predict violent behavioral intentions; examining if collective narcissism mediates these associations. Honesty-humility negatively predicted violent intentions, and team identification predicted violent intentions. Collective narcissism partially mediated these associations. When both Honesty-humility and team identification are accounted for though, collective narcissism did not predict violent intentions. Such findings have implications for the design of violence prevention interventions amongst soccer supporters.

Highlights

A resurgence in soccer supporter violence (e.g., Wheatstone, 2019; Hall, 2020), and recognition that such violence has become increasingly politicised (e.g., Brentin, 2018; Betz, 2020; Testa, 2020), reignites interest in revisiting what leads soccer supporters to engage in violence
Honesty-humility was negatively correlated with violent intentions, social identification was positively correlated with violent intentions, collective narcissism was positively correlated with violent intentions, and honesty-humility was negatively correlated with collective narcissism
In the present study we examined whether team identification and honesty-humility predicted violent intentions amongst soccer supporters, exploring whether collective narcissism may mediate these associations

Summary

Introduction

A resurgence in soccer supporter violence (e.g., Wheatstone, 2019; Hall, 2020), and recognition that such violence has become increasingly politicised (e.g., Brentin, 2018; Betz, 2020; Testa, 2020), reignites interest in revisiting what leads soccer supporters to engage in violence. A considerable amount of research has examined the role of identity-related processes, such as identification and identity fusion, in explaining why some soccer supporters resort to violence (Wann et al, 2003; Van Hiel et al, 2007; Newson et al, 2018). Less research has examined the role of broadband personality traits and engagement in soccer supporter violence. One personality trait which may underlie willingness to engage in violence in the soccer context, is honesty-humility from the HEXACO-PI (Ashton and Lee, 2009). A growing amount of research has shown that collective narcissism is related to hostile intergroup attitudes and behaviours (e.g., Golec de Zavala et al, 2013, 2016), suggesting that collective narcissism may explain why some soccer supporters engage in violence for their team

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