Creativity

Athletes

Biology

Identification (biology)

Social psychology

Football

Originality

Computer science

Botany

Business

Physics

Advertising

Psychology

Optics

Political science

Glory

Physical therapy

Value (mathematics)

Fandom

Sociology

Team sport

Medicine

Self-esteem

Machine learning

Media studies

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship

Purpose The concept of sport team identification has been widely used as a theoretical framework in explaining sport fan behavior. However, limited attention has been devoted to the consequences of distant (i.e., foreign) team identification. The purpose of the current research was to examine the way in which fans (local and distant) can increase their levels of collective and personal self-esteem due to their team identification. Design/methodology/approach Data were accumulated from three Greek websites ( N = 742). Among them, 623 subjects were grouped as local and 119 as distant football fans. A structural invariance analysis was followed. Findings The results revealed how team identification, enduring team-related social connections, and basking in reflected glory are interrelated to affect collective and finally personal self-esteem. Moreover, no differences were found between local and distant fans regarding the paths from eam identification to collective self-esteem and from collective self-esteem to personal self-esteem. Originality/value This is one of the first endeavors to examine the psychological consequences of distant team identification and to test the invariance across local and distant fans concerning the mechanisms that their personal self-esteem can be enhanced because their psychological connection to their favorite sport team.

Elevating self-esteem through sport team identification: a study about local and distant sport fans