An Exploratory Investigation of Sportsmanship

Attitudes Among College Student Basketball Fans

AndyRudd
Florida State Universify

Brian S. Gordon
Universify of Wisconsin-La Crosse

This study sought to investigate college sport spectators ' understanding and
valuing of sportsmanship. It was hypothesized that one ofthe reasons sportsmanship
policies and initiatives fail to curtail poor sportsmanship is because sport spectators lack
a solid understanding and valuing of sportsmanship. A mixed-method design using a
combination of interviews (10 college sport spectators) and a questionnaire (197 to 198
college sport spectators depending on the question) was employed to assess college
student basketball fans ' understanding and valuing of sportsmanship. The results
provided mixed support of our hypothesis. On the one hand, many participants identified
some ofthe values typically associated with sportsmanship. On the other hand, many
participants did not demonstrate an understanding or valuing of sportsmanship in terms
of being morally virtuous which has been argued as an important aspect of sportsman-
ship. Additionally, all ten participants interviewed believed it is legitimate to help their
team win by means of distracting or abusive cheering. This latter result suggests that
many college sport spectators may not value sportsmanship, even if they understand it. To
improve sport spectators understanding and valuing of sportsmanship, it is suggested that
sport administrators consider the adoption of moral education programs.

Address Correspondence to: Andy Rudd, Ph.D., Florida State Universify, Depart-
ment of Sport Management, Recreation Management, & Physical Education, 1028 TuUy
Gym, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4280. Email: mdd@coe.fsu.edu. Phone:(850)645-6883. Fax:
(850)644-0975.
466
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... / 467

Some studies have shown that being a sports fan and more specifically one's level of
team identification (i.e., a person's psychological connection to a team - Warm, Carlson, &
Schrader, 1999) can have a positive infiuence on an individual's psychological and social well
being (Wakefield & Wann, 2006; Wann, Melnick, Russell, & Pease, 2001). For example,
Branscombe and Wann (1991) found that team identification was positively correlated with
self-esteem and negatively correlated with depression. They also found team identification
was positively correlated with "positive feelings" (e.g., happiness, contentment, and joyous)
and negatively correlated with negative affect (e.g., sad, regretful, and hopeless). Individuals
high in team identification also demonstrated lower levels of alienation. Additionally, Wann,
Inman, Ensor, Gates, and Caldwell ( 1999) observed that highly identified individuals reported
greater levels of psychological health (as indicated by measures of fatigue, anger, vigor, ten-
sion, self-esteem, confusion, and depression) than those less identified. As well, some have
posited that identifying with a team increases a sense of communify or social cohesion (Eitzen,
1999; Rader, 2004; Smith, 1988).
Contrariwise, there is also a dark side to sport fandom/sport spectatorship that warrants
attention. Sport spectators engage in a variefy of aggressive behaviors including verbal as-
saults, throwing objects at opposing players, holding up distracting signs, chanting deroga-
tory statements, vandalizing, fighting, and sometimes even rushing the field to hurt a player or
coach (Steinbach, 2008; Wahl, 2008; Wann et al. 2001 ; Young, 2002). Thus, there is a paradoxi-
cal nature of being a sport fan/sport spectator. On the one hand, some studies have demon-
strated a link between sport fandom and improved psychological health/social well being. On
the other hand, many sport spectators engage in a variefy of harmful, aggressive acts.
In response to spectator aggression, major sport organizations have attempted to imple-
ment various sportsmanship initiatives and fan behavior policies. For example, in 2003, the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) held the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior
Summit in an effort to decrease the amount of spectator aggression at college football and
basketball games (Report on the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit, 2003). Additionally,
in 2006, the NCAA's Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee initiated an effort to
improve sportsmanship in college football among not only players and coaches but also the
spectators (Richardson, 2006). Also, at the professional level, the National Football League
recently implemented a strict fan behavior policy against various forms of aggressive verbal
and physical behavior ("NFL Implements," 2008).
The efficacy of some these initiatives and policies, however, is questionable given the
persisting incidents of sport spectator aggression. Division I college athletics are particularly
illustrative. Take for example, a large group of student basketball fans known as the "Pit Crew"
at the Universify of Oregon during the 2007-2008 season. Numerous members were involved in
 468/Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

making threatening phone calls to an opposing player's cellular phone as well as pelting the
player's family members with popcom cartons, empfy cups, and also casting a variefy of
insults (Wahl, 2008). As another example, Illinois student basketball fans chanted profane
language at an opposing player simply because he had chosen not to accept a scholarship
from Illinois (Steinbach, 2008; Wahl, 2008).
Basketball is not the only sport where spectator aggression continues to be a problem in
college athletics. For instance, during the 2007 football season, Rutgers students hurled verbal
assaults at both the Navy players as well as those in military uniform in the stands (Steinbach,
2008). Newark Star-Ledger columnist, Mark Dionno, a Rutgers graduate and former Navy
veteran stated, "It was the most classless thing I've ever seen" (Steinbach, no page number).
Additionally, the Universify of Wisconsin recently launched a new campaign for football
games called "Rolling Out the Red Carpet" in an effort to curtail abusive behavior from Wis-
consin student fans (Hofstetter, 2006). And in hockey, Boston Universify has recently imple-
mented a sport spectator behavior policy as a result of students yelling various racial taunts
and other foul language to opposing ice hockey teams (Hofstetter).
In this article we want to suggest that perhaps one of the reasons spectator aggression
continues is because sport spectators fail to understand and value sportsmanship. According
to Rudd and Stoll (1998), for athletes to practice sportsmanship, they must possess an under-
standing and valuing. That is, athletes must have conceptual knowledge of sportsmanship as
well as a valuing of sportsmanship. Athletes must then be able to put their knowing and
valuing into action, i.e., acting with sportsmanship (see also the original paradigm proposed
by Lickona ( 1991 ) regarding moral character development). Rudd and Stoll argued that know-
ing and valuing is important to the practice of sportsmanship because without it, one is merely
conforming to particular rules or threats of punishment. They argue ftirther that in the absence
of such mies or threats, individuals who lack an understanding and valuing will revert back to
immoral or aggressive behavior.
There is evidence however, to suggest that many of the imposed strategies and initia-
tives do not even obtain basic conformify. In addition to the cases noted earlier, DeCuir (2007)
reported a variefy of spectator aggression from fans despite some of their respective schools'
new fan behavior policies and strategies to decrease spectator aggression. For example, a
Colorado student football fan referring to Scoreboard and email messages designed to de-
crease profanify said that the messages have not helped. Also, a Virginia Tech fan referring to
the athletic department's efforts to stop abusive chants by discontinuing certain songs said,
"I'm going to continue yelling it every game and louder" (DeCuir). As well, a Louisiana State
Universify student, referring to a ban on certain chants stated, "Those are big traditions. If
they stop these chants, new ones will come" (DeCuir). These examples suggest that many fans
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... /469

continue to support the use of verbal aggression regardless ofthe various policies and initia-
tives. Thus, we argue that spectator aggression will continue to be a problem until a genuine
knowing and valuing of sportsmanship is obtained.
To determine more definitively that sport spectators lack an understanding and valuing
of sportsmanship, we conducted an empirical investigation of college student basketball fans.
For clarification, we chose to focus on college athletics because this is an athletic level that
clearly exhorts sportsmanshç (e.g., DeCuir, 2007; Our Mission, n.d.; Report on the Sportsman-
ship and Fan Behavior Summit, 2003) but has struggled to establish it. The study was guided
by two key research questions: 1) How well do college student basketball fans understand
sportsmanship? 2) To what extent, if any, do college student basketball fans value sportsman-
ship? In attempting to answer these questions, it is important to clarify that this study was
exploratory in nature given that this is the first study to examine sport spectators' understand-
ing and valuing of sportsmanship. Thus, the results from this study are offered as preliminary
fmdings that will provide an initial view of how well sport spectators (college students) under-
stand and value sportsmanship. It is hoped that this study spawns a host of further studies in
the area of sport spectators' understanding and valuing of sportsmanship. Ultimately, if it is
learned that many sport spectators do not understand or value sportsmanship, then more
specific efforts can be directed in this area.

Explication of Constructs
Before proceeding to the methodology section it is important to clarify the key con-
structs studied and referred to in this article. These constructs include sport fan, sport specta-
tor, aggression, and sportsmanship.
Sport Fan versus Sport Spectator. Wann et al. (2001 ) maintain that there can be a differ-
ence between a sport fan and a sport spectator. They posit that a sport fan is someone who is
interested in and follows a sports team whereas a sport spectator is someone who actively
attends sports events. While many sport spectators are also fans. Wann et al. note there will be
cases in which a sport fan rarely witnesses the games in person and at the same time there are
some that attend games but do not have a sincere interest in the team. Thus, there can be a
difference between a sport spectator and a sport fan. However, given that Warm et al. acknowl-
edges that the majorify of sport spectators are also fans, we use these two terms interchange-
ably while at the same time alerting the reader to the fact that not all sport spectators are fans
and vice versa.
Aggression. According to Coakley (2007) "aggression refers to verbal and physical
actions grounded in an intent to dominate, control, or do harm to another" (p. 197). We have
chosen to use Coakley's definition because it encompasses both verbal and physical actions
 470 / Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

and thus includes the various forms of spectator aggression that have been described such as
verbal assaults, chanting, fighting, throwing missiles, etc. Additionally, Coakley's definition is
consistent with other definitions that involve a desire to injure or bring harm (see review in
Wann et al., 2001).
Sportsmanship. A review of literature reveals that that there is some variabilify to the
way in which sportsmanship has been defined. Much of this variabilify is attributed to the
sundry moral and social values used to connote sportsmanship. Keating (1964) for example,
argued that sportsmanship is primarily concemed with fair play when conceived within the
context of "athletics" and generosify when defmed in relationship to "sport" (see Keating for
his view of sport versus athletics). Others have characterized sportsmanship with values such
as respect (primarily)(Clifford & Feezell, 1997; Vallerand, Briére, Blanchard, & Provencher,
1997), civilify and positive interaction (Buford May, 2001), friendliness, generosify, and com-
passion (Amold, 1994), and responsibilify, faimess and respect (Rudd & Stoll, 1998).
Despite differences in the values used to define sportsmanship there is also an impor-
tant commonality among many of the definitions. Some suggest that sportsmanship involves
more than following mies or adhering to a code of values. Sportsmanship necessitates a desire
to be morally virtuous or to act in ways that are beyond basic sport competitive expectations,
e.g., following mies or refraining from kicking or pvmching one's opponent. Amold (1994)
explains in the following:
This [sportspersonship] goes beyond a proper appreciation of the rules in terms of what
is fair. It is concemed rather with certain types of commendatory acts done in sport
which are not obligatory but which enrich it as a worthwhile practice (p. 10).
Additionally, Clifford & Feezell postulated, "For this reason, it is important to under-
stand that sportsmanship is not just a matter of acceptable behavior but of excellence of
character-or, in the language of the classical tradition-s/?orfj/wa«.s/j//? is a virtue' (p. 15) (see
also, Keating, 1964; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995). Thus, sportsmanship can be understood not
only in terms of compliance with various moral and social values but also with a desire to act
in a manner of sublime nobilify.

Method

Design
A mixed method design was employed in order to obtain both breadth and depth, i.e. a
more expansive understanding of the phenomenon (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham, 1989; Hanson
et al., 2005). A mixed method approach was also used for the purpose of triangulation which
involves using one fype of data to corroborate fmdings from the other In the case of this
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... / 471

Study, we were interested in seeing how responses to the questionnaire (using a larger sample)
corroborated some ofthe fmdings in the interview given the smaller sample size (Greene et al;
Hanson et al.).
There are a variefy of existing mixed method designs (Hanson et al., 2005; Johnson &
Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2006). For this study an equal-status concurrent
design was used in which the qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently
and given equal priorify. This design comes from Johnson and Onwuegbuzie's (2004) mixed
method fypology which is based on the dimensions of time ordering and status (see also
Hanson et al., 2005). Time order refers to the order in which the qualitative and quantitative
data are collected (concurrently or sequentially) while status refers to the amount of emphasis
placed on the quantitative versus qualitative data (Johnson & Onvraegbuzie, 2004). With
regard to the latter dimension, there has been no clear prescription for how one should ratio-
nalize the dominance or equal status ofthe data. Quantitative and qualitative data were given
equal priorify in our study because both forms of data were equally important in answering the
research questions.

Participants/Sampling
For the qualitative portion ofthe study, 10 college student basketball fans participated in
interviews. More specifically, there were 2 females and 8 males. The students' year in school
included freshman = 2, sophomore = 2, junior=4, senior = 1, and graduate level = 1. Addition-
ally, these students were members of a large basketball fan group at a major public universify
in the Southeast that competes at the Division I level. Students who had a reputation for being
loyal and passionate basketball fans were selected for the study (see section on Data Collec-
tion and Procedures for how these students were selected). Given that studies (Warm et al,
1999; Wann, Haynes, Mclean, & Pullen, 2003; Wann et al, 2001) have shown that highly
identified fans tend to act more aggressively, we felt it was important to interview these
particular fypes of students. Selecting participants on this basis is consistent with what Patton
( 1987) refers to as interviewing those that are "information rich" (p. 52). Our sampling strategy
is also consistent with criterion samplhig which involves selecting subjects that meet a certain
criteria (Creswell, 1998; Patton, 1987).
The quantitative part ofthe study included 198 or 197 questionnaire respondents (de-
pending on the question) out of a total of 1509 (13% response rate) that were sent the ques-
tionnaire. These respondents were also members of the same college basketball fan group
which has a total membership of 1509 students. The respondents were comprised of 104 males
and 94 females. Year in school included approximately 47freshman,47 sophomores, 41 juniors,
43 seniors, and 20 graduate students. Additionally, when asked how strongly they see them-
 472 / Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 33, No. 4

selves as fans of the basketball team, 68% indicated strongly or very strongly, 27% somewhat
strongly, and 4% not strongly. Also, a combined 83% said they go to about half, most, or all of
the games. Thus, the majorify of questionnaire respondents appear to be legitimate fans and
spectators of the team.
For clarification, we acknowledge that the response rate for the quantitative portion of
the study is considerably lower in relationship to what is fypically suggested, i.e., 70% (Gay,
1992; Johnson & Christensen, 2008). However, we argue that 197 to 198 respondents should
provide a good beginning to how well college student basketball fans' understand and value
sportsmanship. This thinking is in line with Fowler (as cited in Black 1999) in which he posited
that the overall nature of the sample in terms of its representation of the population and how
the data was collected can have a greater impact on sampling error than the ratio of sample size
to population.

Data Collection and Procedures

Qualitative methods. One-on-one interviews were conducted with ten college students
that were members of a large student fan group. The director of the fan group was asked to help
recmit these students by sending an email message out to members of the fan group that have
a reputation for being loyal and passionate basketball fans (the nature of the interview ques-
tions was explained to the director beforehand). In the email message students were asked if
they would be willing to participate in a one-on-one interview for a study on sport spectator
behavior. Students were tíien selected on a "first-come, first-serve basis" until 10 volunteers
were obtained.
All of the interviews were conducted by the fu"st author and were done in the first
author's office. It was explained to each interviewee that their responses were confidential.
Each interviewee was asked for permission to audio tape the interview in order to sfrengthen
descriptive validify (i.e., factual accuracy) (Johnson & Christensen, 2008). All of the interviewees
accepted. None of the interviewees were students' of the first or second author. The interviews
lasted approximately 25-60 minutes depending on the level of detail in the interviewee's re-
sponses. In the interviews, students were asked a variefy of open-ended questions (10 total)
that were mostly related to the knowing and valuing of sportsmanship such as "How do you
define sportsmanship?" and "Do you think it is important for fans to uphold sportsmanship
and why?" (see Appendix A for a complete list of questions). These questions were pilot tested
with a member of the fan group (the student was not included in this study's sample) in order
to determine how well the questions were understood and if the questions stimulated answers
to our research questions. Following the practice interview, some of the questions were slightly
adjusted to improve the validity of the questions.
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... /473

Quantitative methods. A questionnaire was sent electronically (using survey software)

to the entire membership of the college student basketball fan group (1509 members). This list
was obtained from the director of the fan group who was provided a copy of the questionnaire
for review before administering, t h e questionnaire contained a combination of closed-ended
and open-ended questions (10 questions total). These questions were predominantly the
same questions used in the interviews. However, given the larger sample, some of the ques-
tions were asked in a closed-ended format. For example, the question: "Do you think it is
important for fans to uphold sportsmanship and why?" was changed from an open-ended
question in the interview to a closed-ended question on the questionnaire. Two of the key
questions however, remained open-ended which included, 1) How do you define sportsman-
ship? and 2) Can you describe the fypes of cheering you do at the basketball games? The only
question not included in the interview was "How strongly do you see yourself as a fan of the
basketball team." This question was asked to get a better sense of the students' level of
fandom/identification. Given the nature of this study, it would not make sense have a large
sample of students that did consider themselves fans or consistent spectators of the team (see
Appendix B for complete questionnaire).
Additionally, there were two questions asked in the interviews that were not part of the
questionnaire. These questions were 1) "Is there a difference between how the fans should
behave versus the players in relationship to sportsmanship? Please explain" and 2) If you are
cheering at a level that causes teams not to play their best, is winning still legitimate and why?
Given the more open-ended nature of these questions, we reserved them for the interviews.

Data Analysis
The tape-recorded interviews were transcribed onto a word processing computer pro-
gram. Two doctoral students conducted the transcriptions and were trained by the first author.
Following franscription, the second author then compiled the responses in relationship to
each question and content analyzed the data for important pattems or themes (Creswell, 1998;
Patton, 1987). Responses to the open-ended questions on the questionnaire were analyzed in
the same manner. Emerging themes were then given specific names or labels. The first author
then reviewed the categorizing of the data to strengthen the interpretive validify (i.e., accu-
rately portraying the participants' thoughts) (Johnson & Christensen, 2008). Overall, both
authors were in agreement. There were however, a few cases in which the first author re-labeled
some of the initial categories in order to better capture the responses.
For the closed-ended questions, frequency counts of the various response options (e.g.
very important, important, somewhat important, and not important) to a question were tabu-
lated using the electronic survey software program. Doing this type of analysis allowed us to
 474/Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 33, No. 4

assay the participants' attitudes/beliefs concerning the valuing and understanding of sports-
manship.
With regard to combining the quantitative and qualitative data, it is important to point
out that mixed data can be analyzed and interpreted separately or in an integrated fashion
(Caracelli and Greene, 1993 ; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). That is, the quantitative and quali-
tative data can be combined in the analysis or analyzed separately and then integrated at the
level of interpretation. For this analysis, we chose to analyze the quantitative and qualitative
data separately and then integrate at the level of interpretation. Such an analysis was chosen
because we were interested in both triangulation and in obtaining both breadth (quantitative
data) and depth (qualitative data).

Results

In this section, we present the emerging categories that came from the responses to the
various open-ended questions (interviews and questionnaire) as well as the responses to
closed ended questions (questionnaire). Accompanied with the categories, are examples of
direct quotes to help the reader obtain a better sense ofthe emerging categories and to what
extent sport spectators value and understand sportsmanship. As mentioned, many ofthe same
questions were asked in both the interviews and on the questionnaire. Thus, we present many
of the interview and questiormaire responses simultaneously for each question. Note that in
the interest of space limitations, we have selected what we believe are the five most significant
questions (from the interviews and questionnaire) as they related to sport spectators knowing
and valuing of sportsmanship. Also note that for the categories, there were cases in which an
individual's response to a question was grouped into more than one category if the response
had multiple implications. Lastly, when providing quotes that would identify the participants'
attending universify, we have replaced the name of the universify with "XYZ" and the
universify's mascot as "ABC."

Question 1: Can You Describe the Types of Cheer ing you do at the Basketball Games?
From the interviews, three themes emerged concerning the fypes of cheering. These
were labeled as Positive/Non Malicious Cheers (9 responses), Heckling/Distracting Opponent
(7 responses), and Heckling Towards Officials/Referees (3 responses). Concurrently, responses
to the identical question on the questionnaire yielded the same three categories: Positive/Non
Malicious Cheers (137 responses), Heckling/Distracting Opponent (52 responses). Heckling
Towards Officials/Referees (4 responses). Additionally, there were fifteen responses catego-
rized under Miscellaneous.
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... /475

Posittve/non malicious cheers. There were nine participants from the interviews and 137
participants from the questionnaire data that identified cheers that could be considered posi-
tive or non malicious. From the questionnaire data many gave examples like "Let's go Team
XYZ" or "Let's go ABC." Participants from the interviews made similar comments such as
"When we have the ball, we try to like go Team XYZ and go ABC and basic stuff like that."
Many from the questionnaire data (and one from the interviews) also identified singing the
school's fight song or universify chant - neither of which is abusive (the specific song or
chant will not be identified in order to protect anonymify). There were also a number of
participants from the interviews and questionnaire data that said they yell positive encourage-
ment directly to the players. For example, one person from the questionnaire data said, "I say
the players' names when they shoot and do something well..."
Heckling/distracting opponent. There were seven participants from the interviews and
52 participants from the questiormaire data that stated they heckle or distract the opponent.
For example, one individual from the questionnaire data stated, "I was part of the [name
omitted] at the end of the court and heckled the other team's players when they were near us."
Or, another person from the questionnaire data who briefly stated, "Rip opposing players and
members of their family." Some were also vulgar stating, "I say fuck you to whoever we play."
Additionally, many from both the interviews and questionnaire data said they yelled or cheered
with the intent of distracting or diminishing their opponent's level of play. For instance, one
person from the interviews said, ".. .anytime they mess-up, we make sure to get in their heads."
Or another from the interviews said, "Some people are pretfy disrespectful to them [opponent],
but you just try to get in their heads."
Heckling towards officials/referees. There were also three participants from the inter-
views and four participants from the questionnaire data who indicated that they heckle or
abuse the referees. For example, one person from the interviews simply said, "Uh, generally
heckling towards the refs." Or, another participant from the questionnaire data said, "I badger
the ref sometimes because he'll make a bad call or not call something..." It is interesting to
note, however, that the number of participants falling under this category was significantly
smaller compared to the category involving heckling towards an opponent (see discussion for
an explanation).
Miscellaneous. There were 15 participants from the questionnaire data that provided
responses that were too vague to categorize. For example, one participant said, "Nomial bas-
ketball cheers and yells." We felt responses as such were too difficult to meaningfully catego-
rize.
 476 / Journal ofSport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

Question 2: How Do You Define Sportsmanship?

From the interviews, four themes emerged relating to the definition of sportsmanship.
These themes include Being a Good Person/Sport (3 responses). Showing Respect (6 re-
sponses). Following the Rules (5 responses), Nice/Polite (5 responses). Concurrently, 11 dif-
ferent categories were identified based on responses to the questionnaire. This larger number
of categories when compared to the interviews is presumably due to the greater sample size.
Categories included Showing Respect (71 responses). Team Support (9 responses). Following
the Rules (3 responses). Fair Play (14 responses). Positive Attitude (24 responses), Nice/Polite
(27), Good Sport (7 responses). Class (4 responses). Honor (4 responses). Ethical Behavior (3
responses). Exhibiting Self-Control (5), and Integrify (3 responses). There were also 34 re-
sponses that were categorized under Miscellaneous due to the unique nature ofthe response
or because the response was too ambiguous to be properly categorized. Notably, all of the
categories (four) identified in the interview data were also found in the questionnaire data. The
only minor difference was the labeling of Good Person/Sport (interview data) versus Good
Sport (questionnah-e data). This slight difference in labeling exists because two of the three
participants that were categorized under Good Person/Sport (interview data) referred to sports-
manship as being a "good or better person" whereas those from the questionnaire data strictly
defmed sportsmanship in relationship to being a "good sport or good winner."
Given the large number of categories that were produced from the questionnaire data we
do not highlight with quotes all ofthe categories. Instead, we report with quotes the categories
that emerged from both the interviews and questionnaire as well as two additional categories
from the questionnaire data that contained the highest number of responses in comparison to
the remaining categories. These two categories include Fair Play (14 responses) and Positive
Attitude (24 responses).
Being a good person or good sport. There were three participants from the interviews
and 7 participants from the questionnaire data that defmed sportsmanship in relationship to
being "a good person or good sport." For example, one person from the interviews said,
"Sportsmanship, um, just trying to be a better person than your opponent. As far as like,
showing, more class, more character. Try to be like, not let the game get involved in how you
are as a person." Or, some from the questionnaire data simply stated comments like, "Being a
good sport" or "Not being a poor sport upon losing a game."
Showing respect. There were six participants from the interviews and 71 participants
from the questionnaire data that defmed sportsmanship as generally being respectful. For
example, one person from the interviews explained, "Sportsmanship, uh, I would define it as
being respectful to your opponent, the best way as possible, not to try to offend, don't use
offensive remarks, and just being, for a lack of a better word, nice, I guess." Concordantly,
 Sportsmanship Attitudes. . . /477

many from the interviews made brief statements like "Being respectful to other players and
fans" or "Showing respect for both teams and officials."
Following the rules. There were five participants from the interviews and three partici-
pants from the questionnaire data that included "following the rules" in their defmition of
sportsmanship. For instance, one person from the interviews said, "Uh, I think that maybe you
can say playing by the mies... " Another person from the interviews said, "Knowing the mies
of the game and knowing how to respond to situations, ha! Being a good person." Or, from the
questionnaire data one person said, "Playing by the mies of the sport, accepting your role on
a team without complaining, and respect the referees, coaches, and players."
Nice/polite. TTiere were five participants from the interviews and 27 participants from
the questionnaire data that generally defined sportsmanship as being nice or polite (or it was
suggested in their definition). For example, a person from the interview data said, "Accepting
the outcome of the game and being polite with good manners..." Another individual from the
interviews simply stated, "Respectful and courteous to like your team and the other team."
Many from the questionnaire data made statements such as "Polite and courteous," "Nice and
friendly," or "Not being mean or mde."
Fair play. There were 14 participants from the questionnaire data that identified faimess
in their definition of sportsmanship. For example one individual simply stated, "To play the
game fairly" or even more concisely one person said, "playing fairly." Additionally, some
included other values along with faimess. For example, one participant said, "Sportsmanship
is playing/watching a sport with a faimess approach. Players are to play with integrify even
when there's no whistle in front of them." Another person referred to sportsmanship as "when
you are able to play fair and respect all players."
Positive attitude. There were 24 participants that included the notion of a positive
attitude in their definition of sportsmanship. Interestingly, many of these particular partici-
pants' identified "positive attitude" in relationship to winning and losing. For instance, one
person said, "having a good attitude if you win or lose." Or, another participant stated, "the
abilify to play your hardest and except failure, or shut down and still hold your head up high
with a great attitude." Additionally, one person said, "being positive when your team is win-
ning and losing, not getting carried away after a win, being a good winner and loser."

Question 3: Do You Think it is Important for Fans to Uphold Sportsmanship (please ex-
plain)?
From the interviews, 8 out of 10 participants acknowledged that it is important for fans to
uphold sportsmanship. There was also one participant that held a mixed view ("yes, to an
extent") and one person that said, "No." The explanations of these responses yielded two
 478 / Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

themes that were labeled as Reflection of Team/Universify (3 responses), and Part of Being a
Fan (3 responses). Additionally, four responses were categorized under Miscellaneous.
Reflection of team/university. There were three participants that agreed sportsmanship
should be upheld by fans. In their explanation they indicated that the fans are a reflection of
the universify and the team. For example, one person said, "Oh yes, definitely, because you as
a fan are an extension of your school and your team." Another participant stated.
Yeah, I've been at numerous sporting events growing up where parents have been
kicked out for yelling at the refs, it does reflect your team because later on we got into the
playoffs, we were known as the team with the really bad parents or bad fans.
The other individual within this category was less clear but seemed to imply something
similar to other two comments. The person stated,
I think it is important. It's important for the team or organization putting on the game to
emphasize and uphold it because there are so many people. Like if someone makes a bad
call, they all start chanting bs or bullshit in unison and there are thousands of people
saying it.
Part of being afán. Two participants indicated that displaying poor sportsmanship is
part of being a fan. Contrariwise, a third participant suggested that upholding good sports-
manship is part of being a fan. In the former case, one person said, "Um, I think yes to an extent.
They wouldn't be fans if they showed good sportsmanship. You're not going to cheer when
the other team makes a basket..." Similarly, the other of the two stated.
No, I think it is encotiraged for fans to be rowdy and obnoxious and to create a home-
court advantage and to make the opposing players uncomfortable. I think it is expected
and it's the culture. I think that's what creates the home court advantage.
The third person within this category maintained the opposite position stating,
I think it is important because if you cross that line it is not a good thing I think. I think
most members and good supporters usually do realize what they are there for and what
they are supposed to do and that is part of sportsmanship to respect [the opponent]. So,
I think it is part of being a good fan.
Miscellaneous. Four participants' responses were categorized under Miscellaneous for
various reasons. One person was categorized as such because their answer was not clearly
recorded. Another participant gave an answer that did not accurately address the question. A
third participant provided a response that was unclear or not well articulated. The fourth
person believed fans should maintain sportsmanship in order to protect the credibilify of
sport. They said:
Absolutely. Um, watching a European soccer match, people's behavior in the stands. I
think that bad sportsmanship leads to a loss of credibilify for sport, as entertainment
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... / 479

which is just a mess when you have people just yelling at certain players, sexual or
otherwise. I know some players came to [name of cify removed) last year, Darryl
strawberry's kid came and that led to a whole bunch of people asking if his dad was
doing crack again or other destructive things.
The same question was also included on the questionnaire with a closed ended scale
ranging from "very important" to "not important." Of 197 responses, 83% indicated that it is
either very important or important for fans to uphold sportsmanship. In contrast, only 18% felt
it was somewhat important or not important to uphold sportsmanship. Overall, these responses
are consistent with the majorify of those in the interview that also believed it is important for
fans to uphold sportsmanship.

Question 4: Do You Think That Your Behavior as a Fan Ever Violates Sportsmanship (please
explain)?
From the interviews, responses to the above question were mixed. For clarification, there
were three participants that were not asked the question given the way they responded to one
of the previous questions concerning the fypes of cheering. These particular participants
described cheering that was clearly not a violation of sportsmanship, e.g., "Let's go Team
XYZ" or singing the fight song. Consequently, the above question was not applicable to them.
Ofthe seven participants that were asked the question, four of them felt their behavior does
not violate sportsmanship. Among the other three, two indicated that their behavior "some-
times" violates sportsmanship while the third individual believed their cheering does violate
sportsmanship.
An analysis of the participants' explanations produced one meaningful theme called
Frustrated with Referees. This category contained three participants that indicated they "some-
times" or "do" violate sportsmanship and a fourth person that felt they do not violate sports-
manship but similar to other three, suggested that he and others may abuse the referees. For
example, one person said,
Uh, I would like to say no but sometimes I can go overboard. I don't use profanify until
I get mad and stuff That's the most I get out of hand when referees make calls and I get
upset but that is about as far I will go.
Another person stated,
I've crossed the line a couple of times. [I] just get caught up in the emotion of it, so it is
just like I yell something, I think like, this is really irritating to me, I say something to the
effect of you're a damn idiot or something like that and then I say you know get back to
the locker room or get the hell out of here, ref, but that is really the extent that I have done
it.
 480 / Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

The other four participants felt that they do not violate sportsmanship and thus had
something in common. However, their explanations varied and consequently did not merge
into any particular category. Further, the comments were rather vague and generally provided
little insight. The comments were subsequently categorized under Miscellaneous.
In addition to the interviews, the same question was asked on the questionnaire in a
closed-ended format. The majorify (59%) responded with "No" when asked if they believe the
types of cheering they do violates sportsmanship. However, there was also an additional 36%
that believe the fypes of cheering they do either "sometimes" (31%) or "most of the time" (5%)
violates sportsmanship. There was also an additional 5% that were "unsure." This distribution
of responses is fairly consistent with the interviews in that people responded predominantly
with "no" or "sometimes."

Question 5: If you are cheering at a level that causes teams not to play their best, is winning
still legitimate?
All ten participants interviewed believed that it is legitimate to win a game by distracting
and upsetting the opponent. Additionally, there were two emerging themes called Part of the
Game (6 responses) and Opposing Fans Do It Too (4 responses) which supported many of the
participants' positions that cheering to the point of distracting the opponent is a legitimate and
fair way to win. For example, for the first category, one individual said.
Yes, both teams agreed to play and if something illegal happened during the game, I'm
allowed to do that, I am allowed to be there....It's like if someone yells something so
vulgar that you know takes someone out of the game, it's a valid win.
Another person within the same category said.
Yeah, I think it is part of the game. If fans weren't supposed to [cheer distractingly], they
would play in an empfy gym you know one on one and like, the better team would win
every time. That's why fans give the underdog a chance, like we haven't been the better
team in half of the games this year probably.
With regard to the other major category called Other Fans Do It Too, one person said, "I
think it is a legitimate win because obviously the home games will help our team but when we
go on the road for games, it will be the same for the other team." Another individual stated, "I
think it is, yeah. Because at the same time, our players are going to go on the road and they're
going to hear the same thing..."
As mentioned, this question was not included on the questiormaire because we thought
it would be better suited for an in-depth interview. Additionally, in an effort to improve the
response rate to the questionnaire, we attempted to keep the questionnaire brief while at the
same time informative to our study. In hindsight, it would have been beneficial to have in-
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... /481

eluded question #5 on the questionnaire. However, given the amount of consistency with
responses to the same questions posed in the interviews and on the questionnaire, it is likely
that a similar pattem of responses would have held from the questionnaire.

Discussion

The purpose of this article was to suggest that many college sport spectators (and
presumably other sport spectators) may not understand or value sportsmanship as evidenced
by the myriad acts of sport aggression (DeCuir, 2007; Report on the Sportsmanship and Fan
Behavior Summit, 2003; Richardson, 2006; Wann et al., 2001; Young 2002). As a result, the
attempts to curtail sport spectator aggression by the NCAA and athletic departments more
specifically have not shown great success. To initially assess sport spectators' understanding
and valuing of sportsmanship, a mixed-method study was conducted with a sample of college
student basketball fans. The findings are offered as preliminary rather than definitive or confir-
matory evidence.
To some extent, this study's sample of college student basketball fans does appear to
have an understanding of sportsmanship. For example, the most identified moral value was
respect, which is part of a number of sport scholars' definitions (Clifford & Feezell, 1997; Rudd
& Stoll, 1998; Vallerand et al., 1997). Some participants also identified the moral value of fair
play which is part of sportsmanship definitions by Rudd and Stoll and Keating (1964). In
addition, participants defined sportsmanship with a host of other values that have not been
identified in popular sport scholars' defmitions, but that could nonetheless be considered part
of sportsmanship. As Clifford and Feezell note, "The word 'sportsmanship' is shorthand for a
whole complex of character traits that athletic competition should instill in our young people..."
(p. 19). Therefore, participants' definitions that hicluded values or behaviors such as nice/
polite, good sport, honor, integrify, and positive attitude could also be a reasonable part of
sportsmanship. However, our analysis of participants' definitions of sportsmanship did not
reveal the other component of sportsmanship involving the notion that sportsmanship is
noble or morally virtuous (Amold, 1994; Clifford & Feezell, 1997). Thus, it may be that the
average sport spectator operates with a superficial and limited understanding of sportsman-
ship which in tum may relate to why some sport spectators engage in aggressive behavior.
Participants were also asked to consider if their behavior as a fan ever violates sports-
manship. The point of this question was to determine if there was a lack of congmence
between the fypes of cheering fans do and perceptions of their own cheering. In other words,
if many fans engage in abusive forms of cheering while thinking that it is not a violation of
sportsmanship, then perhaps they do not understand sportsmanship. Unfortunately, results
 482 /Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

to this particular question were inconclusive. On the one hand, there were participants that
identified abusive forms of cheering as well as many fans that believe that they do not violate
sportsmanship. On the other hand, the majorify (70% of the interviewees and 69% of the
questionnaire respondents) identified positive forms of cheering. Consequently, there was not
a preponderance of evidence to show that most fans engage in aggressive cheering while
simultaneously believing they do not violate sportsmanship.
The valuing component of sportsmanship was partly sought by asking the participants
if they believe it is important for fans to uphold sportsmanship and then considering re-
sponses in relationship to the nature of their cheering. Results showed that the large majorify
(80% in the interviews and 83% from the questionnaire) believe it is important for fans to
uphold sportsmanship. Additionally, the majorify provided examples of cheering that were
positive or non abusive. Taken together, these pieces of evidence might suggest that many of
the sport spectators in this study's sample do in fact value sportsmanship. However, it was
also observed that 7 of 10 (70%) in the interviews and 52 of 198 (26%) in the questionnaire
described types of cheering that were of a heckling or distracting manner. Thus, it could be that
the phenomenon of sport spectator aggression is limited to a more specialized group of sport
spectators. Such would be consistent with Wakefield and Wann (2006) who argued that while
the majorify of sport spectators act in a decent manner, there is a small percentage that are
highly "dysfunctional," i.e., over identified fans that act in an extreme or abnormal manner (see
also Gibson, Wilming, & Holdnak, 2002). Wakefield and Wann found that it these fans that
tend to be more aggressive and abusive. Perhaps it is primarily the dysfunctional fans that do
not understand or value sportsmanship. This may be an area for future research.
Lastly, participants were asked about the legitimacy of wirming by cheering in a distract-
ing manner (interviews only). This question was used as a means to assess both valuing and
understandingof sportsmanship. All of the participants interviewed believed it is legitimate to
win a game by such cheering. Their reasoning was primarily based on the notion that being an
obnoxious fan is "part of the game" and that opposing fans will do the same to their team when
visiting. Responses suggest that the participants either do not understand sportsmanship as
a morally virtuous practice or that they may understand sportsmanship but do not value it. In
light of responses to the above question, one has to wonder if many of the participants
provided "socially desirable" answers to some of the other self-report questions (Johnson &
Christensen, 2008). For example, in response to the question pertaining to the importance of
fans upholding sportsmanship, the large majorify (from the interviews and questionnaire) felt
sportsmanship is important. Yet, their responses seem to contradict the responses given to the
interview question relating to the legitimacy of winning through the use of distracting cheer-
ing methods. This is another indication that more studies are needed to better understand
 Sportsmanship Attitudes... /483

sport spectators' understanding and valuing of sportsmanship.

While considering the results from this study it is important to note a couple of limita-
tions. First, the participants are a convenience sample from one particular universify out of
many colleges/universities that have basketball programs. Some of these universities would
be regarded as being so-called "basketball schools" that presumably contain a higher number
of fanatical fans than the universify in this study. Thus, generalizing to the total population of
college sport spectators is tentative. Additional studies with samples of college student fans
from traditional basketball universities will be needed to leam more about understanding and
valuing of sportsmanship and its relationship to aggression (as well as college sport specta-
tors of other sports and universities). Second, the exploratory nature of our study provides
preliminary fmdings that should be viewed heuristically rather than the drawing of defmitive
conclusions.
In conclusion, it has not been the intention of this paper to suggest that a lacking of
knowing and valuing are the only causes of spectator aggression. There have been many
other hypothesized causes of sport spectator aggression. These causes are based on a host of
psychological theories/variables (frustration-aggression hypothesis, social leaming theory,
team identification/self esteem maintenance, group categorization, need for excitement, and
psychological dysfunction) and sociological theories (contagion theory, convergence theory,
emergent-norms theory, value-added theory, and issue-relevant and issue-irrelevant factors)
(see reviews by Simons & Taylor, 1992; Wann et al., 2001 ). A variefy of environmental variables
(noise, ions, temperature, crowding, and viewing violence) and alcohol use have also been
proposed to cause sport spectator aggression (Wann et al., 2001). Thus, in light of the myriad
theories/variables that may contribute to sport spectator aggression, we do not intend to
suggest that a lack of understanding and valuing of sportsmanship are the only potential
causes of aggression. Rather, our intention was to offer a new additional explanation that may
be an important contributing factor in sport spectator aggression. Given our study was the
first to assess sport spectators understanding and valuing of sportsmanship, we hope more
studies will be conducted in this area. Doing so may provide insight into how to improve the
practice of sportsmanship among sport spectators.
For now, we encourage sport administrators to consider the possibilify that many sport
spectators believe it is their right and dufy to distract and verbally abuse opponents. This in
tum, suggests that athletic departments need to initiate an educational component that will
teach fans the meaning and value of sportsmanship. Research has shown the moral education
can be an effective medium for improving moral reasoning and changing an individual's value
system (Lickona, 1991 ; Power, Higgins, & Kohlberg, 1989; Stoll & Beller, 2006). In addition,
studies need to be conducted that examine the types of conditions that can decrease spectator
 484 / Journal ofSport Behavior, Vol 33, No. 4

aggression (e.g., alcohol sales, seating arrangements, overcrowding, weather conditions, sanc-
tioning of spectator aggression, game times, added securify, and promotion of fair play over
winning) (Branscomb & Wann, 1992; Report on the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit,
2003; Wann et al., 2001).

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 Sportsmanship Attitudes... / 487

Appendix A: Sport Interview Questions

1) What year are you in school?

2) How long have you been a member of the XYZ (name replaced) fan group?

3) How often do you attend the basketball games?

4) Can you describe the fypes of cheering you do at games?

5) How do you define sportsmanship?

6) Do you think it is important for fans to uphold sportsmanship? Please explain.

7) Do you think it is important for players to uphold sportsmanship? Please explain.

8) Do you think that your behavior as a fan ever violates sportsmanship? Please explain.

9) Is there a difference between how the fans should behave versus the players in relationship to

sportsmanship?

10) If you are cheering at a level that causes teams not to play their best, is winning still

legitimate and why?

488 /Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 4

Appendix B: Sportsmanship Questionnaire

1) What year are you in school?

Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior

2) Please indicate your gender.

Male Female

3) How long have you been a member of the XYZ (name replaced) fan group?

4) How often do you attend the basketball games?

Not often About Half Most of them All of them

5) How strongly do you see yourself as a fan of the XYZ (name replaced) men's basketball

team?

Not Strongly Somewhat Strongly Strongly Very Strongly

6) Can you please describe the types of cheering you do? What kinds of things do you say to the

opposing team?

7) How do you defme sportsmanship? Please provide an answer in the space provided.

8) How important is it for fans to uphold sportsmanship?

Very important. Important, Somewhat Important, Not important

9) How important is it for the players to uphold sportsmanship?

Very important. Important, Somewhat Important, Not important

10) Do you believe any of the cheering you do violates sportsmanship?

Yes, most of the time. Yes, sometimes. No, Unsure

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