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. 2024 Nov 12;23(7-8):616-633.
doi: 10.1080/15298868.2024.2423829. eCollection 2024.

Anti-social behavior and soccer identities: different continents, same mindset?

Martha Newson  1   2 , Linus Peitz  2   3 , Susilo Wibisono  4 , Jorge Knijnik  5 , Fiona White  6 , Harvey Whitehouse  2
Affiliations

Anti-social behavior and soccer identities: different continents, same mindset?

Martha Newson et al. Self Identity. .

Abstract

Although most soccer fans support their teams peacefully, anti-social fan behavior continues to appear across the globe. We tested the roles of identity fusion and membership to an extreme fan group (ultras) in explaining fan disorder in two understudied contexts: Indonesia (Study 1) and Australia (Study 2). Incidents of violence and antisocial behavior were rarely reported among general Indonesian (9%) or Australian fans (6%) but were significantly higher among their respective ultras groups (37%; 20%). Identity fusion predicted antisocial behavior, especially when combined with fan group membership. Fusion explained anti-social behaviors better than identification or social dominance orientation. Understanding the motivators of intergroup violence is crucial to devise more effective ways of channeling cohesion among group members into peaceful forms of prosocial action.

Keywords: Identity fusion; fandom; intergroup psychology; social dominance orientation; ultras.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Indonesian Fans’ self-reported past violence and future willingness to fight and die.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Scatter plot of predicted probability for self-reported past anti-social behaviour based on fan type, fusion, age and gender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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