The Positive Relationship between Sport Team Identification and Belief in the Trustworthiness of Others

The current investigation examined the relationship between team identification and beliefs in the trustworthiness of others. Based on the Team Identification--Social Psychological Health Model (Wann, 2006), it was hypothesized that a positive relationship would emerge between these two variables. The hypothesis was tested by asking 127 university students to complete a questionnaire packet assessing level of identification with a local collegiate basketball team and a measure assessing the trustworthiness of others. Consistent with predictions, a significant correlation between identification and beliefs in trust was found. Social scientific research (e.g., Hogg & Abrams, 1990; Linville, 1987) has documented the psychological benefits of membership in a variety of groups including religious organizations (Diener & Clifton, 2002), school peer groups (Brown & Lohr, 1987), and the deaf community (Bat-Chava, 1994). In fact, this effect is so profound that Compton (2005, p. 48) concluded that "positive social relationships" were one of the "core variables that best predict happiness and satisfaction with life." Recently, sport scientists have suggested that a similar pattern should emerge for sport fans (Melnick, 1993; Smith, 1988; Wann, Melnick, Russell, & Pease, 2001). To explain the relationship between sport fandom and identification, Wann (2006) recently presented a theoretical framework labeled the Team Identification--Social Psychological Health Model. According to this perspective, identification with a salient sport team (but not mere sport fandom per se, see Wann, 2006) will be correlated with social psychological health because it will result in increased social connections with others (team identification is defined as the extent to which a fan feels a psychological connection to a team, see Wann et al., 2001). The increased social connections are then predicted to result in positive levels of well-being. Empirical evidence for Wann's (2006) model is quite strong. In fact, over the last 20 years, research indicates that high levels of identification with teams with readily available social connections are associated with many indices of social well-being, including lower levels of loneliness and alienation, and higher levels of collective self-esteem, personal selfesteem, frequency of experiencing positive emotions, extroversion, conscientiousness, and social life satisfaction (e.g., Branscombe & Wann, 1991; Wann, Dimmock, & Grove, 2003; see Wann, 2006, for a complete review of this literature). In the current study, we extended prior work on the relationship between team identification and well-being by documenting the correlation between identification and beliefs in the trustworthiness of others, another dimension of well-being. According to Keyes (1998), trust in others is a component of the social acceptance dimension of social well-being. If team identification does lead to increased social connections, it stands to reason that persons would feel good about those connections and evaluate them in a positive way, such as viewing members of society as trustworthy (for additional discussions of social connections, social capital, and trust in others, see Maynard & Kleiber, 2005; Putnam, 2000). Thus, it was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between level of identification with a team and beliefs in the trustworthiness of others. METHOD Participants Participants were 127 Murray State University students (31 male, 96 female) receiving extra college course credit. Subjects had a mean age of 20.65 years (SD = 3.66; range = 18 to 47). Well over 90% of the participants were Caucasian (European/Anglo American). Materials and Procedure Upon entering the testing room and providing their consent, participants (tested in groups) completed a questionnaire packet containing three sections. Section one contained demographic items assessing age and gender. …