March sadness: Coping with fan identity threat

Elizabeth B. Delia

Sport Management Review, 2017, vol. 20, issue 4, 408-421

Abstract: While a majority of team identification studies have focused on the influence of psychological connection on organizational objectives, it is important to also examine the influence of team identification on fans in terms of their well-being. Considering the latter, there has been a relative lack of inquiry into how identified fans cope with identity threat, such as program scandal. In the current study, the author uses autoethnography, an interpretive ethnographic mode of inquiry, to examine her Syracuse University Men’s Basketball fandom and her reaction to sanctions imposed on the program in 2015. In doing so, the author finds that she relied on multiple emotion-focused coping strategies over a one-year period to deal with identity threat until a series of positive team-related events restored her identity. The author also finds that her role identities as fan and scholar frequently conflicted one another. Theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications of the current study are discussed.

Keywords: Autoethnography; Coping; Identity; Identity threat; Team identification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2016.11.007

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