Identified, but not identical: exploring the influence of collective narcissism in team identification

Abstract

To date, inquiry into team identification has focussed on the implications for consumer behaviour, with relatively limited focus on within group differences of highly identified fans. In the current study, collective narcissism is used to explore attitudinal and behavioural differences among highly identified fans. By interviewing highly identified fans both high and low in collective narcissism, we explore the unique attributes of highly narcissistic fans and how these differ from low narcissistic fans who are equally identified with a team. We find high collective narcissistic fans possess pervasive views that the team is unique, under scrutiny, and harbour beliefs related to within-group exclusivity, whereas low narcissistic fans do not. The findings highlight the need to understand attitudinal and behavioural differences among highly identified fans. Practically, it highlights the importance of increased specificity in market segmentation of team fan bases.

Exploring the Dark Side of Esports Online Spectatorship: Passion as a Mediator and Collective Narcissism as a Moderator

“…Moreover, the absence of a significant direct effect of team ID on OT underscores the importance of identifying other factors that determine the conditional influence of team ID. Our findings clarify the underlying process of OT and contribute to the literature on the relationship between team ID and dysfunctional fandom (Larkin & Fink, 2019;Larkin et al, 2021;Toder-Alon et al, 2019). Another important addition of our work to the extent literature is to join recent research in recognizing and examining individual differences among a group of identified fans as we found empirical evidence for the theoretical link between CN, team ID, and OP (Larkin et al, 2021(Larkin et al, , 2022.…”

“…Fans with high degrees of team ID would also tend to engage in favorable consumption behaviors, reflected in game attendance, merchandise purchase, and preference for team sponsors’ products and services (e.g., Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Fink et al, 2002; James et al, 2019; Jang et al, 2018). Despite extensive literature on positive attachments and desirable behaviors associated with team ID, there has been limited research on the negative aspects of team ID with notable exceptions (e.g., Delia, 2017; Doyle et al, 2017; Larkin & Fink, 2019; Larkin et al, 2021; Wakefield & Wann, 2006). While some researchers have argued that team ID is positively related to fan aggression and dysfunctional fandom, others have not found significant relationships or discovered that team ID can mitigate fan aggression (e.g., Larkin & Fink, 2019; Wann et al, 2003).…”

“…Applied to the realm of sports, Larkin and Fink’s (2019) research demonstrates a strong association between CN and fan aggression, suggesting that high levels of CN may drive dysfunctional fandom and fan aggression, rather than team ID alone (Wakefield & Wann, 2006). High CN fans view their teams as unique and nurture feelings of unfair scrutiny, resulting in an “us-against-the-world” mentality (Larkin et al, 2021). In contrast, low CN fans recognize shared qualities with other teams and acknowledge criticism and doubts towards their teams, expressing concern over within-group exclusivity dynamics (Larkin et al, 2021).…”

“…High CN fans view their teams as unique and nurture feelings of unfair scrutiny, resulting in an “us-against-the-world” mentality (Larkin et al, 2021). In contrast, low CN fans recognize shared qualities with other teams and acknowledge criticism and doubts towards their teams, expressing concern over within-group exclusivity dynamics (Larkin et al, 2021). Low CN fans emphasize their own commitment, while high CN fans dwell on perceived differences in types of fan support (e.g., bandwagon vs. real fans) (Larkin et al, 2021).…”

Rage against the machine: investigating conspiracy theories about the video assistant referee on Twitter during the 2018 FIFA World Cup

“…Collective narcissism of sport fans could also play a role in explaining conspiracy beliefs in the sport context. Collective narcissism (i.e., a defensive identification rooted in a perceived lack of recognition; Golec de Zavala et al, 2009;Larkin et al, 2021) is a robust predictor of conspiracy beliefs according to empirical (Bertin et al, 2022a(Bertin et al, , 2022bCichocka et al, 2016;Marchlewska et al, 2019;Sternisko et al, 2021), and meta-analytic evidence (Biddlestone et al, 2022). The relationship between collective narcissism and conspiracy beliefs blaming external factors for a situation threatening the ingroup image has been proposed to be mediated by the endorsement of a victim status (Bertin & Delouvée, 2021).…”