Attitudes Between Sports Fandom Groups: Identification, Competition, and Contact Interventions

Experiment 2 (N=44) used a 2 (identification strength: high/low) × 2 (competitiveness: high/low) between-subject design, with results showing that group identification significantly positively predicted implicit in-group preference, but had no significant effect on explicit intergroup attitudes; the main effect of intergroup competition and their interaction were also nonsignificant. Experiment 3 (N=25) used a 2 (contact type: cooperative vs. confrontational) × 2 (measurement time: pre/post) mixed design, and results showed that imagined confrontational contact and imagined cooperative contact induced implicit intergroup preferences that were significantly negatively correlated (r=-0.766, p<0.001).

Both types of contact had opposite activation effects within individuals, but no stable group-level intervention effect was observed. The study indicates that merely classifying groups can trigger intergroup bias in sports fandoms; high group identification strengthens unconscious in-group favoritism; and imagined intergroup contact has the potential for bidirectional activation. This study provides empirical evidence for understanding intergroup conflicts in sports fandoms and for guiding a rational sports culture.