Baseball Fandom as a Superpower

As someone with a degree in behavioral psychology and workforce development I always saw far beyond the practical aspects of the office softball league. Sure, sport and baseball in particular bring people together in a way that provides the space and pace to form bonds that otherwise would be difficult in a work environment. (Plus , per Dan Buettner's book The Blue Zone, folks shedding stress together is a factor that can help you live to be a hundred .) But like I said, I've always thought to see way beyond that.

John Sexton probably put it best when he described those childhood memories of playing catch as "an intimacy interrupted only by the pop of a ball colliding with leather."  In that quote I can almost picture the dust puffing off my glove in the evening sunlight of seemingly endless Buckeye summers. The simple action of playing catch with family or friends, or playing on a team was meaningful on a much deeper level than just playtime. It provided context and a deeper meaning to life as a community - a common group. The game we love - baseball- whether fan or player- was an invisible gateway to purpose.

Turns out I'm not alone in this notion. Recent studies confirmed that individuals who highly identified with being a sports fan had an above average sense of the meaning of life. (So, apparently if your spouse asks you why you're spending so much time watching games (or in the case of this season, reruns of games) you can simply say you are busy finding the meaning of life. Fact.

What's more,  it also turns out the "10th player" is not really that far off from reality.  Fans and players are more connected during the game than you would think. The same study found that fans are essentially virtually participating in the competition,  The study's team leader Daniel Wann, a social psychologist at Murray State University, says "Fans are having a vicarious experience of competition, as well as the experience of status gain that comes with that."  His study found that this experience goes all the way down to the neurochemicals that are released in similar degree in both players and fans during a game.

Wann's team carried out more than 20 studies in which a diverse group of sports fans were evaluated using various measures by which psychologists gauge well-being—such as a sense of self-worth, frequency of positive emotions, feeling connected with others, belief in the trustworthiness of others, sense of vigor and energy, and so on. All positive social traits.  In virtually every single study, the degree of fan identification—that is, how devoted and enthusiastic a fan is—shows a positive statistical correlation with one or more of these factors.  Wann’s Team Identification-Social Psychological Health Model, first published in 2006, describes nearly two dozen “well-being benefits” that he says are commonly associated with sports fans.*

Wann's findings can be found in his excellent long read Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators. The end analysis: "Sports fandom is simply another kind of community. And community uplifts our spirits."

Spirits appears to not be the only thing it lifts. Alan Schwartz at the American Addiction Center found a correlation between how we eat the day after a game based on whether our team won or lost. Turns out fans of winning teams eat less saturated fat than their losing counter-parts. (Decide if you will whether your allegiance is effecting your health.)  As a Pittsburgh sports fan, there's probably a good reason why the Primanti Sandwich has been popular since the days my grandfather was noshing on them in the 30's.

But Wann disagrees. Albeit you get the benefits of being a fan whether you follow a successful team or just identify with the team.  But surprisingly he found,  "You can get these well-being benefits even if your team doesn't do well; we've found this with historically unsuccessful teams as well," 

Well, that's easy - it's called loyalty. Every team that has historically fell short year after year somehow galvanizes the fan community even more. Fact. As John Sexton said in Baseball As A Road to God, "in baseball faith goes century by century." This notion is evidenced by every Cubs fan and probably was best summed up by Tom Trebelhorn "The last time the Cubs won the World Series was 1908. The last time they were in one was 1945. Hey, any team can have a bad century." What a life outlook, right?

So why is that this game - baseball- creates a community of fans like no other?  Wann says, "The simple fact is that people are looking for ways to identify with something, to feel a sense of belonging-ness with a group of like-minded individuals." He continues, "People might not understand the sports side of things, but my response to that is: Think of, in your own life, what you care about and what you identify with. Sport is what these fans have chosen." 

This chosen "belonging-ness" can help us during these challenging times. The ups and downs of seasons, streaks, slumps and our expressions as fans can provide us a good reference point for our entire approach to life.  It's important that we have healthy outlets for our emotions, which leads to our own well-being but also the community's wellbeing.  That's perhaps never been more important than now.

 Shawn Crawford, a licensed professional counselor at Banner Health,North Colorado says   “(It's) what people just naturally do, we find ways to organize socially and identify with an ‘in group’ which means, on the flip side, there’s an out group. The healthy expression of that is a kind of friendly rivalry, teasing, connecting with people – we both like baseball even though we like different teams and we can razz each other about it. In sports, when we talk with others about their team versus our team, in the end what we’re really doing is emphasizing a common interest that binds us. It’s a different way of connecting with people.  Any of us can get fervent about our team or sporting event,” he said. “Part of vicariously being a part of the sport is creating that atmosphere of the fervor, excitement. It’s a harmless way to express the human tendency toward aggression. Watching sports allows us to participate vicariously in a healthy way and satisfy the urge for competition. I can sit in my living room and project myself into the role of the players. Kind of a healthy fantasizing outlet.”

So in the end, even though we may not have the game we love to watch this season, we still have each other which science confirms is a powerful and healthy tool to encourage, unify and carry each other through, and on the other side bring about a better stronger America, and the game we love.  The power of digital media, which is bringing us together on this blog right now, thankfully connects us like never before; when we need it most.  Baseball and America have been through the tough stuff before, and we always come through better. That's why it's our National pastime. It equips us and binds us.  

So to come full circle, back to that office softball game, where the players and even the spectators seem to be out getting some fresh air, a chance to let off some steam... what they are really getting is much needed community - becoming more intimate, caring unified and in relationship with one another. My theory was always that these positive bonds get carried off the field and become how we treat each other generally. As social psychologist Timothy Wilson said, “One of the most enduring lessons of social psychology is that behavior change often precedes changes in attitudes and feelings.” So if science proves we feel better about ourselves, and more each other through playing and watching together, isn't that exactly the change we all need right about now? Have Faith Be Safe, baseball will be back, and we will remain together -undefeated.

* To read the full Wann interview with Huffington Post.