Examining the personalities of football fans according to their typologies

Abstract

This study aims to determine the typologies of football fans and reveal whether personality traits differ according to typologies. In this context, 353 fans who watched the match of the team they support at least twice from the stadium in the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 Turkish Football Super League and First League were included in the study. Based on these results, 353 fans were included in the study, and related analyses were carried out. “Fan Typology Scale” and “Adjective-Based Personality Test (ABPT)” were used as data collection tools. A two-stage hierarchical clustering analysis was used to reveal the fan typology, and the research questions were tested with analysis of variance and chi-square analyses. As a result, four types of fans were obtained in the study: hooligan, fanatic, classic, and social. When the personality traits of the obtained typologies were analyzed, it was found that extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to innovation scores were high, and emotional instability scores were average. However, it was determined that there were no statistically significant differences in the personality traits of the typologies. It is thought that the fact that the personality traits of hooligan fans showing violent tendencies are similar to the classical, social, and fanatic fans will contribute to the literature as one of the striking results of this study.

Keywords

Belonging fan identity commitment social identity group psychology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bacanli

İlhan

Aslan

(2009) Development of a personality scale based on five factor theory: Adjective based personality test (ABPT). Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi 7(2): 261–279.

Bilir

Avgin

(2017) Investigation of causes and results of violence-oriented behaviours of penalized fans in sports: The sample of Adana Province. Spor ve Performans Araştirmalari Dergisi 8(3): 232–251. doi:https://doi.org/10.17155/omuspd.289798.

Brown-Devlin

Devlin

(2020) Winning with personality: Underscoring antecedents for college students’ motives for team identification. Communication & Sport 8(3): 364–388. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479519832017.

Brown-Devlin

Devlin

Vaughan

(2017) Why fans act that way: Using individual personality to predict BIRGing and CORFing behaviors. Communication & Sport 6(4): 395–417. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479517725011.

Brown

(2015) Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research, 2nd ed. New York: Guilford.

Buss

Perry

(1992). The aggression questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 63(3), 452. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.63.3.452 doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.3.452

Bütün

Demir

(2014) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, 3.baski Ankara: Pegem Akademi.

Büyüköztürk

(2018) Manual of Data Analysis for Social Sciences. Ankara: Pegem Akademi.

Dalmaijer

Nord

Astle

(2022) Statistical power for cluster analysis. BMC Bioinformatics 23(1): 205. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-022-04675-1

10.

Dayioğlu

İ. E.

(2017). Relation between type of personality and tendency to violence along attitude of violence . Master’s thesis, Istanbul Gelişim University Institute of Social Sciences.

11.

Devlin

Brown-Devlin

(2017) Using personality and team identity to predict sports media consumption. International Journal of Sport Communication 10(3): 371–392. doi:https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2017-0050.

12.

Doğru

Sayimer

Çetin

, et al. (2021) The effects of fan motivation factors on psychological commitment, buying the club products and following club through the media: A comparison at a local and national football clubs. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi 6(1): 87–109. doi:https://doi.org/10.31680/gaunjss.846467.

13.

Donavan

Carlson

Zimmerman

(2005) The influence of personality traits on sports fan identification. Sport Marketing Quarterly 14(1): 31–42.

14.

Dwyer

Greenhalgh

LeCrom

(2016) Niche-versus mainstream-sport spectators: An analysis of need for uniqueness and sport eFANgelism. International Journal of Sport Communication 9(3): 364–383. doi:https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2016-0045.

15.

Goldman

Chadwick

Funk

, et al. (2016) I am distinctive when I belong: Meeting the need for optimal distinctiveness through team identification. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 16(3-6): 198–220. doi:https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSMM.2016.077930.

16.

Halıcı

Çimen

(2021) Evaluation of football spectators’ expectations about event quality. Pazarlama ve Pazarlama Araştırmaları Dergisi 14(2): 389–421.

17.

Halici

Karacif

Doğan

(2024) EFANgelism levels of football fans analysis according to variables. Gazi Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Bilimleri Dergisi 29(1): 32–39. doi:https://doi.org/10.53434/gbesbd.1371408.

18.

Halici

Yetim

(2024) Investigation of football fans’ perceptions of event quality according to their typologies. Sage Open 14(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241271131.

19.

Harrington

(2009) Confirmatory Factor Analysis. New York: Oxford University.

20.

Hunt

Bristol

Bashaw

(1999) A conceptual approach to classifying sports fans. Journal of Services Marketing 13(6): 439–452. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/08876049910298720.

21.

Jacobson

(2003) Rooting for Laundry: An Examination of the Creation and Maintenance of a Sport Fan Identity. Connecticut: University of Connecticut.

22.

Karaarslan

İ.

(2017). The relationship between personality typologies and childhood traumas on the basis of tendency to violence . Master’s Thesis, Istanbul Gelişim University Institute of Social Sciences.

23.

Karasar

(2011) Bilimsel araştirma yöntemleri. Ankara: Nobel Yayinlari.

24.

Kaya

Bacioğlu

(2023) The predictive effect of adolescents’ personality traits on aggression levels. Journal of Education 13(2): 1421–1433. doi:https://doi.org/10.24315/tred.1170756.

25.

Kearney

(2003) The New Sports Consumer. EDS Company.

26.

Knapton

Espinosa

Meier

, et al. (2018) Belonging for violence: Personality, football fandom, and spectator aggression. Nordic Psychology 70(4): 278–289. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2018.1430611.

27.

Chang

Jang

, et al. (2017) A hierarchical approach for predicting sport consumption behavior: A personality and needs perspective. Journal of Sport Management 31(3): 213–228. doi:https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2015-0142.

28.

Mahony

Madrigal

Howard

(2000) Using the psychological commitment to team (PCT) scale to segment sport consumers based on loyalty. Sport Marketing Quarterly 9(1): 15–24.

29.

Miller

Lynam

(2001) Structural models of personality and their relation to antisocial behavior: A meta-analytic review. Criminology; An Interdisciplinary Journal 39(4): 765–798. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00940.x.

30.

Park

Kim

Chiu

(2021) Segmenting sport fans by eFANgelism: A cluster analysis of South Korean soccer fans. Managing Sport and Leisure 28(2): 182–196. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2021.1873169.

31.

Prentice-Dunn

Rogers

R. W

. (1982). Effects of public and private self-awareness on deindividuation and aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43(3): 503. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.43.3.503 doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.43.3.503

32.

Quick

(2000) Contemporary sport consumer: Some implications of linking fan typology with key spectator variables. Sport Marketing Quarterly 9(3): 149–155.

33.

Raney

(2013) Reflections on communication and sport: On enjoyment and disposition. Communication & Sport 1(1-2): 164–175. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479512467979.

34.

Reysen S, Plante CN, Roberts SE, et al. (2015) A social identity perspective of personality differences between fan and non-fan identities. World 2(1): 91–103.

35.

Salman

G. G.

(2008). The relationship between service quality of professional soccer clubs and fan satisfaction and typology. PhD Dissertation, Marmara University Institute of Social Sciences, İstanbul.

36.

Shuv-Ami

Toder Alon

(2023) How do you categorize yourself as a sports fan? A new scale of sports fan social–personal identity salience (FSPIS) and its consequences. Communication & Sport 11(1): 28–52. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479520967278.

37.

Smith

Terry

(2003) Attitude-behaviour consistency: the role of group norms, attitude accessibility, and mode of behavioural decision-making. European Journal of Social Psychology 33(5): 591–608. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.172.

38.

Sutton

McDonald

Milne

, et al. (1997) Creating and fostering fan identification in professional sports. Sport Marketing Quarterly 6: 15–22.

39.

Tabachnick

Fidell

(2013) Using Multivariate Statistics, 6th ed. Boston: Pearson.

40.

Talimciler

(2006) Football fanaticism from the point of sociological perspective. Sosyoloji Dergisi 15: 91–104.

41.

Taşmektepliğil

Çankaya

Taner

(2015) Fanaticism scale for football fans. Spor ve Performans Araştirmalari Dergisi 6(1): 41–49. doi:https://doi.org/10.17155/spd.73408.

42.

Thompson

(2004) Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Understanding Concepts and Applications. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

43.

Türel

Fİ

Öztürk

Çalıcı

(2018) Trauma and violence from individual to society: A psychohistorical approach to individual and societal violence. Bartın Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 3(3): 3–10.

44.

Turner

Brown

Tajfel

(1979) Social comparison and group interest in ingroup favouritism. European Journal of Social Psychology 9(2): 187–204. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420090207

45.

Ulu

(2016) A psychological research on the relationship between personality and violence. Bilimname 32(3): 57–82. doi:https://doi.org/10.21646/bilimname.2016.12

46.

Vallerand

Ntoumanis

Philippe

, et al. (2008) On passion and sports fans: A look at football. Journal of Sports Sciences 26(12): 1279–1293. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410802123185.

47.

Van Hiel

Hautman

Cornelis

, et al. (2007) Football hooliganism: Comparing self-awareness and social identity theory explanations. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 17(3): 169–186. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.902.

48.

Wann

Branscombe

(1990) Die-hard and fair-weather fans: Effects of identification on BIRGing and CORFing tendencies. Journal of Sport and Social Issues 14(2): 103–117. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/019372359001400203.

49.

Wann

Dunham

Byrd

, et al. (2004) The five-factor model of personality and the psychological health of highly identified sport fans. International Sports Journal 8(2): 28–36.

50.

Yöyen

(2017) Violence and personality traits. Yaşam Becerileri Psikoloji Dergisi 1(1): 35–50. doi:https://doi.org/10.31461/ybpd.316724.