Whether we win or with whom we watch: How international sporting events link to life satisfaction and work motivation

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dc.abstract.enInternational sporting events like the UEFA EURO 2024 provide a powerful natural context to study how social identity dynamics and social processes link to well-being and motivation beyond the sporting domain. In this pre-registered longitudinal experience-sampling study (N = 842; k = 2,414 post-game responses) across five European countries, we examined how social context (watching alone vs. with others) and game result (win vs. loss) link to spectators' life satisfaction and work motivation. Drawing on social identity and self-categorisation theory, we explored mediating processes including team, football, and national identity, as well as social processes—social connectedness and game-related socialising. Multilevel analyses revealed that watching games with others was unexpectedly associated with lower work motivation, an effect explained by alcohol consumption. The social context was unrelated to life satisfaction. Game result (i.e., a win) was positively related to life satisfaction and work motivation, mediated by social identities and social processes. These findings demonstrate that collective success—rather than shared spectating—coincides with positive psychological spill-overs from leisure to work. By situating these effects within a social identity framework, the study highlights how collective experiences relate to both evaluative well-being (i.e., life satisfaction) and motivational outcomes (i.e., work motivation) in everyday and organisational life.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii w Warszawie
dc.contributor.authorNeumann, Meikel
dc.contributor.authorStrauch, Annik
dc.contributor.authorBoecker, lea
dc.contributor.authorDiel, Kathi
dc.contributor.authorEscher, Yannik A.
dc.contributor.authorMuniak, Paweł
dc.contributor.authorOomen, Danna
dc.contributor.authorPetrowsky, Hannes M.
dc.contributor.authorSchwarz, leonie
dc.contributor.authorWeber, Marcel
dc.contributor.authorFriese, Malte
dc.contributor.authorGenschow, Oliver
dc.contributor.authorHaslam, S. Alexander
dc.contributor.authorLoschelder, David D.
dc.date.access2026-08-07
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-10T12:07:15Z
dc.date.available2026-08-10T12:07:15Z
dc.date.created2026-06-06
dc.date.issued2026-10
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p> International sporting events like the UEFA EURO 2024 provide a powerful natural context to study how social identity dynamics and social processes link to well‐being and motivation beyond the sporting domain. In this pre‐registered longitudinal experience‐sampling study ( <jats:italic>N</jats:italic>  = 842; <jats:italic>k</jats:italic>  = 2,414 post‐game responses) across five European countries, we examined how social context (watching alone vs. with others) and game result (win vs. loss) link to spectators' life satisfaction and work motivation. Drawing on social identity and self‐categorisation theory, we explored mediating processes including team, football, and national identity, as well as social processes—social connectedness and game‐related socialising. Multilevel analyses revealed that watching games with others was unexpectedly associated with lower work motivation, an effect explained by alcohol consumption. The social context was unrelated to life satisfaction. Game result (i.e., a win) was positively related to life satisfaction and work motivation, mediated by social identities and social processes. These findings demonstrate that collective success—rather than shared spectating—coincides with positive psychological spill‐overs from leisure to work. By situating these effects within a social identity framework, the study highlights how collective experiences relate to both evaluative well‐being (i.e., life satisfaction) and motivational outcomes (i.e., work motivation) in everyday and organisational life. </jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.issue4
dc.description.physical1-19
dc.description.sdgNoSDGsAreRelevantForThisPublication
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume65
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/bjso.70115
dc.identifier.eissn2044-8309
dc.identifier.issn0144-6665
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2480
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjso.70115
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOTHER
dc.subject.enexperience sampling
dc.subject.eninternational sporting events
dc.subject.enlife satisfaction
dc.subject.ensocial context
dc.subject.ensocial identity
dc.subject.enwork motivation
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleWhether we win or with whom we watch: How international sporting events link to life satisfaction and work motivation
dc.title.journalBritish Journal of Social Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle