Group Display: Sports

Group Display: Sports

1. Wilson

   • Claims xenophobia is documented in almost every animal group displaying higher forms of social organisation
   • Natural selection favoured genes that caused humans to behave altruistic towards members of their own group, but intolerant towards outsiders.

2. Show and Wong

   • Mechanisms that prompt suspicion of strangers favoured by natural selection, as it enabled ancestors to avoid attack, and leave more offspring.

3. MacDonald

   • Evolutionary perspective. It is adaptive to to exaggerate negative stereotypes of outsiders, as overperception of a threat is less costly than underperception.

4. Podaliri and Balestri

   • Evidence of xenophobia tendencies in Italian football crowds, like Lazio players performing 'Roman salute' to extremist fans.

5. Territoriality

   • Protective response to an invasion of territory. 
   • Aggressive displays by sports teams prior to match serves to intimidate opposition.
   • Adaptive for ancestors as allowed them to defend resources in their territory.
   • Neave and Wolfson
     • Football teams playing at home are more likely to win than the visiting team, due to a surge of testosterone (an evolved drive to defend territory).
     • Team members who felt a burden of defending territoty was on them, then they experience higher levels of testosterone.

6. Foldesi

   • Found support for the link between xenophobia and violent displays in Hungarian football crowds.
   • Racist conduct of a core of extremist supporters led to an increase in spectators violence.

7. Lewis et al

   • Football fans. Crowd support rated significant factor contributing to home advantage.
   • Fans felt responsible for inspiring team victory, taking credit for distracting the opposing teams. 
   • However, the precise way in which displays of support have an effect is hard to pinpoint.

8. Moore and Brylinsky

   • Measles epidemic caused quarantine caused 11 American basketball games for 2 teams to be played in absence of spectators. Siena Saints-9 away games analysed. 5 with spectators, 4 without. 
   • Scored an average of 76.25 in front of spectators, and 86.20 in the absence of.
   • Display of support home crowds didn't increase performance.

9. IDA-RWA