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Being a sports fan, whether you’re watching top-level soccer, the Olympic Games or your favorite local team, can be a rollercoaster ride. Incredible highs if you win, crushing disappointments if you don’t, and lots of stressful emotions in between. (Read this also | Study reveals role of gut microbiome in autism, providing new diagnostic insights,
Thankfully, the overall effect should be positive, as research has shown that people who watch sport experience greater wellbeing than those who don’t – and this is likely linked to the social aspects of watching sport.
By wellbeing we mean a person’s psychological state – how good a person feels. People with high wellbeing have better physical health and live longer than people with low wellbeing.
Is watching sports good for your mental health?
The research, conducted by our group, led by Helen at Anglia Ruskin University, used data from 7,209 adults aged 16-85 living in England who took part in the Taking Part survey conducted by the UK government.
We found that people in the U.K. who watched live sporting events in the past year are more satisfied with their lives, feel their lives are more meaningful and are less lonely than those who didn’t. These findings align with other studies, which found that people who watch sports in person at least once a year have fewer symptoms of depression than those who don’t.
Can’t watch live events? Watching sports on TV and online can also be good for your health. Research has shown that people who watch sports on TV or the Internet were less depressed than those who didn’t, and those who watched sports regularly had even fewer symptoms of depression.
People who watch sports have a greater sense of life satisfaction than those who do not, regardless of whether they watch the game in person, on TV, or online.
All of these findings are correlational, meaning we can’t be certain which factor affects the other or whether they can both be completely influenced by another factor (such as wealth, or number of friends). However, social identity theory and brain imaging research tell us that watching sports may boost primary well-being rather than other factors.
The positive impact of watching sports
The positive effects of watching sports are probably about social identity. We seek belonging through the formation of in-groups: communities of people with whom we have something in common. These communities become part of our identity, and through them we find social and emotional support.
An example of in-group formation is the community we live in with people who support the same sports teams as us. Research has shown that people who are strongly attached to a sports team are more likely to feel emotionally supported by fellow fans, which leads to increased life satisfaction.
Through our shared social identity, we also share the social and emotional benefits of successes among our group. Researchers at KU Leuven in Belgium have named this “basking in reflected glory.”
However, when our team loses, we are more likely to distance ourselves from our team to protect ourselves from negative social and psychological consequences: “cutting off reflected failure”.
The role of social processes linking sports spectatorship and their well-being is demonstrated by a Japanese study that used brain imaging. They found that brain regions associated with psychological rewards (feeling good) were more active when participants watched a popular spectator sport such as baseball, compared to a less popular spectator sport such as golf.
So, the social benefits of watching sports aren’t just limited to watching live events with friends and family. We can enjoy the sense of community our favorite athletes provide whether we watch the games in person or from the comfort of our own home, and by extension we can enjoy the psychological benefits as well.
Whether you support your team from home or at a game, you can enjoy the ups and downs of being a sports fan with the knowledge that it’s good for you – as long as you share that experience with others.
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