Contemporary topics 2: UNIT7 - Sports fans — Transcript

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1. 0:04I don't know about you but I spent the
2. 0:08entire weekend watching World Cup
3. 0:10matches in fact my whole family did
4. 0:13we're big sports fans and while some
5. 0:16people think of sports as just a fun
6. 0:19interest social psychologists have a
7. 0:21wider view many modern social
8. 0:25psychologists say that watching sports
9. 0:27and identifying with a particular player
10. 0:29or team fulfills an important human need
11. 0:33this is the need to belong to a group
12. 0:36and feel a sense of self esteem in other
13. 0:39words people may have a deeper social
14. 0:42motivation for following sports it's not
15. 0:45just about watching a game today we'll
16. 0:50take a quick look at five broad reasons
17. 0:52why people follow sports and then we'll
18. 0:55come back to this idea of belonging and
19. 0:57self-esteem okay first off people are
20. 1:03unmotivated to watch sports because
21. 1:05sports are really entertaining sports is
22. 1:08performance art we can observe superb
23. 1:12athletes displaying their talent and
24. 1:14dedication for example even if you don't
25. 1:18particularly like sports you can
26. 1:21appreciate the gymnastic performance of
27. 1:23an Olympic athlete or an NBA player
28. 1:26dunking a basketball or a Wimbledon
29. 1:28champion serve in an ace or a soccer
30. 1:31player scissor kicking a goal the beauty
31. 1:34of sports performances can be enchanting
32. 1:38the second motivation for following
33. 1:41sports is our love of competition human
34. 1:44beings are competitive we love
35. 1:47competition a race a contest when we
36. 1:51watch athletes playing competitive
37. 1:52sports we get a kind of indirect
38. 1:55satisfaction we feel as if we're also in
39. 1:58the competition our blood pressure and
40. 2:00hormone levels increase along with the
41. 2:03athletes the third motivation for
42. 2:06following sports is our interest in
43. 2:08drama all human beings in all cultures
44. 2:12love stories sports is a great source of
45. 2:16storytelling
46. 2:17because sports involve personal
47. 2:19histories and struggles relationships
48. 2:21and rivalries we want to see how these
49. 2:24individuals succeed and how they respond
50. 2:26to challenges we also want to know about
51. 2:29their lives outside the lines their real
52. 2:32lives when they're not performing now
53. 2:37there is a fourth motivation for
54. 2:38watching sports this is our desire to
55. 2:41understand strategy games are
56. 2:44interesting only if they involve some
57. 2:46kind of problem-solving and
58. 2:48decision-making when we watch a sports
59. 2:51event like a soccer match at the World
60. 2:53Cup or even a chess match we want to
61. 2:56analyze the strategy of the players we
62. 2:59want to learn what tactics do the
63. 3:01players use how do they try to get an
64. 3:04advantage over their opponents and the
65. 3:08fifth thing that motivates people would
66. 3:10have become sports fans is the
67. 3:12attraction of being part of a community
68. 3:14people become sports fans because of
69. 3:17that experience Bond's them with others
70. 3:19being a fan allows individuals to feel
71. 3:21like they're part of a group they can
72. 3:24experience a sense of belonging and
73. 3:25acceptance
74. 3:26we definitely witnessed this at a
75. 3:29national level don't we for example at
76. 3:32the Olympics being a sports fan is a way
77. 3:34for people to feel united as a nation
78. 3:37fans feel a sense of triumph and glory
79. 3:40simply when their national team competes
80. 3:42they love wearing the same colors
81. 3:44chanting and cheering with their group
82. 3:47it feels good and fans can feel that
83. 3:50they are involved whether they're at the
84. 3:52stadium or just watching at home what's
85. 3:56going on here we can explain this with
86. 3:59social identity theory which was
87. 4:01originated some 40 years ago by two
88. 4:03British psychologists Henry Typho and
89. 4:06John Turner social identity theory
90. 4:10states that people behave in ways that
91. 4:12increase their self-esteem self-esteem
92. 4:15is a term in psychology that relates to
93. 4:17mental health we need self-esteem to be
94. 4:21healthy this includes self-respect pride
95. 4:24and self-confidence
96. 4:26and being a sports fan is one way that
97. 4:29people can boost their self-esteem by
98. 4:32associating or affiliating with the team
99. 4:34by wearing team colors or by going to
100. 4:36games and tracking wins and losses fans
101. 4:39feel that they are an integral part of
102. 4:42something they feel they're an important
103. 4:44part of the team part of a community the
104. 4:47team and the team community actually
105. 4:48becomes an important part of the fans
106. 4:50self-identity so when the team wins it
107. 4:54feels like a personal success and yes
108. 4:58when the team loses it feels like a
109. 5:00personal failure but even when our team
110. 5:02loses we can still feel self esteem
111. 5:05because we remain loyal dedicated
112. 5:08members of our group unlike all fans
113. 5:10everywhere we keep hoping for future
114. 5:13success are you with me so far
115. 5:17well here's an interesting aspect of fan
116. 5:21affiliation it has to do with how social
117. 5:24media reinforces social identity theory
118. 5:27fans tend to use social media Facebook
119. 5:31Twitter Instagram YouTube and so on as a
120. 5:35way of broadcasting and reinforcing
121. 5:37their sense of belonging to a group with
122. 5:40social media fans stay connected and
123. 5:43share their commitment to the team and
124. 5:45it works both ways
125. 5:47teams and players also post regularly on
126. 5:50social media this ongoing exchange keeps
127. 5:53fans involved in the team community
128. 5:56so to summarize we've looked at five
129. 6:00types of motivation for people to become
130. 6:02sports fans entertainment competition
131. 6:06drama strategy and community we all have
132. 6:10a human drive to be part of a group and
133. 6:13to feel good about ourselves and being a
134. 6:16sports fan is one way to do that in the
135. 6:19next class we'll look at other kinds of
136. 6:20social groups and how social identity
137. 6:23theory operates in them ok team that's
138. 6:26all for today