Understanding the positive social psychological benefits of sport team identification: The team identification-social psychological health model

This article presents a theoretical model designed to account for the positive relationship between identification with a local sport team and social psychological health. This model, labeled the Team Identification-Social Psychological Health Model, predicts that team identification facilitates well-being by increasing social connections for the fan. Two forms of social connections are developed through team identification: enduring and temporary. Although the enduring and temporary social connections are expected to result in improved well-being, it is predicted that this relationship will be moderated by threats to social identity and efforts to cope with the threats. The social connections resulting from team identification are expected to impact both state (via increases in temporary social connections) and trait well-being (via enduring connections). Finally, because research indicates that group and team identification are more closely related to social well-being than personal well-being, temporary and enduring social connections are predicted to have their greatest impact on social psychological health.