Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T09:07:41.025Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What fuses sports fans?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Dimitris Xygalatas Open the ORCID record for Dimitris Xygalatas [Opens in a new window]
Dimitris Xygalatas*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269. xygalatas@uconn.eduwww.xygalatas.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Extreme self-sacrifice in the context of phenomena, such as sports hooliganism, combines aspects of local and extended fusion. How can we best account for such phenomena in the light of the theory presented here, and how can we make a tangible distinction between the two types? I propose ways to explore and operationalize this distinction and the concept of fusion more generally.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e221
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cameron, A. (1976) Circus factions. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dunbar, R. I. M. (2010) The social role of touch in humans and primates: Behavioural function and neurobiological mechanisms. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 34(2):260–68.Google Scholar
Durkheim, É. (1915) The elementary forms of the religious life. George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Fischer, R., Xygalatas, D., Mitkidis, P., Reddish, P., Tok, P., Konvalinka, I. & Bulbulia, J. (2014) The fire-walker's high: Affect and physiological responses in an extreme collective ritual. PLOS ONE 9(2):e88355. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088355.Google Scholar
Frosdick, S. & Marsh, P. (2013) Football hooliganism. Routledge.Google Scholar
Lakin, J., Jefferis, V., Cheng, C. & Chartrand, T. (2003) The chameleon effect as social glue: Evidence for the evolutionary significance of nonconscious mimicry. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 27(3):145–62.Google Scholar
Lang, M., Bahna, V., Shaver, J. H., Reddish, P. & Xygalatas, D. (2017) Sync to link: Endorphin-mediated synchrony effects on cooperation. Biological Psychology 127:191–97. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.06.001.Google Scholar
Páez, D., Rimé, B., Basabe, N., Wlodarczyk, A. & Zumeta, L. (2015) Psychosocial effects of perceived emotional synchrony in collective gatherings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 108(5):711–29. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000014.Google Scholar
Parkinson, C., Kleinbaum, A. M. & Wheatley, T. (2018) Similar neural responses predict friendship. Nature Communications 9:332. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02722-7.Google Scholar
Swann, W. B. Jr., Gómez, A., Huici, C., Morales, J. F. & Hixon, J. G. (2010b) Identity fusion and self-sacrifice: Arousal as a catalyst of pro-group fighting, dying, and helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 99(5):824–41. doi: 10.1037/a0020014.Google Scholar
Swann, W. B. Jr., Gómez, A., Seyle, D. C., Morales, J. & Huici, C. (2009) Identity fusion: The interplay of personal and social identities in extreme group behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 96(5):995–1011. doi: 10.1037/a0013668.Google Scholar
Swann, W. B. Jr., Jetten, J., Gómez, Á., Whitehouse, H. & Bastian, B. (2012) When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion. Psychological Review 119(3):441–56. doi: 10.1037/a0028589.Google Scholar
Vázquez, A., Gómez, A., Ordoñana, J. R., Swann, W. B. Jr. & Whitehouse, H. (2017) Sharing genes fosters identity fusion and altruism. Self and Identity 16(6):684–702. doi: 10.1080/15298868.2017.1296887.Google Scholar
Whitehouse, H. (2004) Modes of religiosity: A cognitive theory of religious transmission. Rowman AltaMira Press.Google Scholar
Whitehouse, H. (2013) Three wishes for the world (with comment). Cliodynamics: The Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History 4(2):281–323.Google Scholar
Whitehouse, H., Jong, J., Buhrmester, M. D., Gomez, A., Bastian, B., Kavanagh, C. M., Newson, M., Matthews, M., Lanman, J. A., McKay, R. & Gavrilets, S. (2017) The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences. Scientific Reports 7:44292. doi: 10.1038/srep44292.Google Scholar
Xygalatas, D. (2015) The biosocial basis of collective effervescence: An experimental anthropological study of a fire-walking ritual. Fieldwork in Religion 9(1):53–67. doi: 10.1558/fiel.v9i1.53.Google Scholar
Xygalatas, D., Mitkidis, P., Fischer, R., Reddish, P., Skewes, J., Geertz, A. W., Roepstorff, A. & Bulbulia, J. (2013) Extreme rituals promote prosociality. Psychological Science 24(8):1602–605. doi: 10.1177/0956797612472910.Google Scholar