Opinion | Friday, 30th July 2021
Will sporting success at the Olympic Games make us happy?
Dr Yuhei Inoue explains the link between sporting success and a nation’s happiness and pride
By Dr Yuhei Inoue, Reader in Sport Management at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport.
During international sports competitions like the Olympic and Paralympic Games, all eyes are on the success of national teams and athletes. A common belief is that witnessing the success of the teams and athletes we support makes us happy and proud.
Sports agencies such as UK Sport have taken the ‘power’ of sporting success as a key rationale for the country’s investment in elite sports.
A similar logic also applies to domestic sports competitions. Every year, major professional sports clubs spend millions of pounds on player acquisition and retention to become more competitive, which they hope will make their supporters happy.
The notion that we seek a sense of achievement by associating ourselves with others’ sporting success is well-documented.
A 1976 study conducted with American football fans in the USA, for example, demonstrated that people tend to publicly show their affiliations with a sports team after its victory by wearing the team’s apparel and using the pronoun ‘we’ (rather than ‘they’) to refer to the winning team. This finding has been replicated over the years in other contexts and populations, such as football fans in Europe.
While the importance many people attach to sporting success is undeniable, a sole focus on success in sports competitions can be problematic when it comes to attributing this to people’s happiness and wellbeing.
After all, in any competitions, there is only one winner, with other teams or athletes losing at some point.
Consider the performance of the England men’s national football team at Euro 2020. Despite finishing the tournament in second place - a considerable success considering it was the team’s best international performance in 55 years - its loss in the final has been described as ‘heartbreaking’, with some fans calling for the firing of the team manager, Gareth Southgate.
If we rely on our favourite teams’ (or athletes’) ultimate success to become happier, there could be a small chance of achieving that outcome.
Moreover, empirical evidence indicates that the relationship between sporting success and wellbeing is marginal at best.
For example, an analysis of survey data from residents of 12 European countries found that the countries’ superior performance at international sports competitions, such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cups, had no effect on their residents’ happiness.
In a recent study of English adults, less than 20% of those surveyed reported that British sporting achievements make them most proud of Britain. This percentage was much lower compared to other factors attributed to happiness and national pride such as the British countryside and health service.
Wellbeing benefits of ‘identification’
These findings highlight the importance of moving away from mere sporting performance and success to enhance our happiness and wellbeing. In this regard, there is a body of academic research demonstrating the positive effects on people’s wellbeing from sports competitions through the fact that they psychologically ‘identify’ with a team or athlete they are cheering for.
The reason for this is that once we develop a sense of identification with a team or athlete, we tend to see others supporting them too as fellow members of an ‘ingroup’ that shares common values and norms.
The perception of being a part of the ingroup, in turn, provides us with a range of psychological resources that are crucial to maintaining and enhancing our wellbeing.
One example of such psychological resources is emotional support, or the availability of compassion and caring from others.
Another example is a sense of belonging and togetherness. People gain greater access to these resources as they identify with a sports team or athlete, which promotes their wellbeing by enriching their personal and social lives.
Points of connection
But is it possible to identify with a team or athlete that is unsuccessful or poorly performing?
Research indicates that identification and sporting success are only weakly correlated and there are many factors beyond athletic achievements, such as support for social causes, cultural orientations and personality, that drive people’s identification with a team or athlete.
For example, the Dallas Cowboys of the USA National Football League have not won the league championship since 1995, but it is the most valuable sports team in the world and known for the league’s most loyal fan base.
Emotional boosts from sporting success are likely to be trivial and temporary. However, the social relationships and a sense of identification we establish by supporting sports teams and athletes can be long lasting and have significant implications for our happiness and wellbeing.
So, while watching sports competitions, it is important to find points of connection that help us identify with competing teams or athletes beyond their sporting performance and outcomes.
Moreover, to cultivate the power of sports competitions to promote happiness, sports organisations and agencies should invest more resources in developing teams and athletes that the public can feel connected and identify with, rather than solely focussing on improving and publicising their athletic achievements.
