National Football Teams’ Performance Predicts Spectators’ Identities, Affect and Sociopolitical Attitudes: An Investigation During the 2024 EURO Tournament

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dc.abstract.enOn the basis of two social-affective frameworks, we posited that national football team performance (winning vs. losing) would impact spectators’ identities, affect and sociopolitical attitudes—including their intergroup attitudes (i.e., in-group favouritism and multiculturalism) and societal perceptions (i.e., national optimism, perceived crisis severity, political trust and perceived racism). During the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament in Germany, we assessed residents (N = 1012) from five participating countries before the tournament (baseline) and after each game. Confirming our preregistered hypotheses, national team wins led to stronger national identification, which, in turn, predicted more in-group favouritism and less support for multiculturalism. Wins also predicted more positive affect, which then coincided with stronger national optimism. Contrary to our hypotheses, however, no direct effects emerged for spectators’ political trust, nor their perceptions of crisis severity and racism. These findings highlight ways in which national sports experiences can predict spectators’ collective identities, emotions and selected sociopolitical attitudes.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii w Warszawie
dc.contributor.authorEscher, Yannik A.
dc.contributor.authorPetrowsky, hannes M.
dc.contributor.authorBoecker, Lea
dc.contributor.authorDiel, Kathi
dc.contributor.authorMuniak, Paweł
dc.contributor.authorNeumann, Meikel
dc.contributor.authorOomen, Danna
dc.contributor.authorSchwarz, leonie
dc.contributor.authorStrauch, Annik
dc.contributor.authorWeber, Marcel
dc.contributor.authorFriese, Malte
dc.contributor.authorGenschow, Oliver
dc.contributor.authorHaslam, S. Alexander
dc.contributor.authorLoschelder, David D.
dc.date.access2026-08-05
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-10T07:59:44Z
dc.date.available2026-08-10T07:59:44Z
dc.date.created2026-06-13
dc.date.issued2026-08-05
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> On the basis of two social‐affective frameworks, we posited that national football team performance (winning vs. losing) would impact spectators’ identities, affect and sociopolitical attitudes—including their intergroup attitudes (i.e., in‐group favouritism and multiculturalism) and societal perceptions (i.e., national optimism, perceived crisis severity, political trust and perceived racism). During the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament in Germany, we assessed residents ( <jats:italic>N</jats:italic>  = 1012) from five participating countries before the tournament (baseline) and after each game. Confirming our preregistered hypotheses, national team wins led to stronger national identification, which, in turn, predicted more in‐group favouritism and less support for multiculturalism. Wins also predicted more positive affect, which then coincided with stronger national optimism. Contrary to our hypotheses, however, no direct effects emerged for spectators’ political trust, nor their perceptions of crisis severity and racism. These findings highlight ways in which national sports experiences can predict spectators’ collective identities, emotions and selected sociopolitical attitudes. </jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.sdgNoSDGsAreRelevantForThisPublication
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/ejsp.70103
dc.identifier.eissn1099-0992
dc.identifier.issn0046-2772
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2478
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.70103
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOTHER
dc.subject.enin-group favouritism
dc.subject.ensocial identity
dc.subject.enspillover
dc.subject.ensport events
dc.subject.enxenophobia
dc.swps.sciencecloudnosend
dc.titleNational Football Teams’ Performance Predicts Spectators’ Identities, Affect and Sociopolitical Attitudes: An Investigation During the 2024 EURO Tournament
dc.title.journalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle