Members in the Media
From: The Washington Post

The psychology of why sports fans see their teams as extensions of themselves

The Washington Post: 

Two weeks ago, a man who earns his living by chasing other men in pursuit of a leather prolate spheroid handed a team staffer a football that felt soft. The staffer reported this unusual occurrence to his supervisor, who reported it to his supervisor, who reported it to his supervisor, and then all hell broke loose. Ever since, the nation has been held in thrall to the spectacle of sports fans debating the ideal gas law .

The scandal has acquired its own name, DeflateGate, and let’s be real: You have an opinion on this matter, and I have an opinion on this matter, and people who hate prolate spheroids and listen only to public radio have an opinion on this matter. The intensity of the reaction to whatever the New England Patriots did to their footballs has been proportionally ludicrous.

Put it all together and it’s no surprise to find, as Arizona State psychology and marketing professor Robert Cialdini first did in the 1970s, that the use of the royal “we” increases after wins and decreases after losses as fans “bask in reflected glory” or “cut off reflected failure.”

Read the whole story: The Washington Post

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