Group Display: Sports

Anotações:

• Claims xenophobia is documented in almost every animal group displaying higher forms of social organisation
• Natural selection favoured genes that caused humans to behave altruistic towards members of their own group, but intolerant towards outsiders.

Anotações:

• Mechanisms that prompt suspicion of strangers favoured by natural selection, as it enabled ancestors to avoid attack, and leave more offspring.

Anotações:

• Evolutionary perspective. It is adaptive to to exaggerate negative stereotypes of outsiders, as overperception of a threat is less costly than underperception.

Anotações:

• Evidence of xenophobia tendencies in Italian football crowds, like Lazio players performing 'Roman salute' to extremist fans.

Anotações:

• Protective response to an invasion of territory. 
• Aggressive displays by sports teams prior to match serves to intimidate opposition.
• Adaptive for ancestors as allowed them to defend resources in their territory.

1. Neave and Wolfson

   Anotações:

   • Football teams playing at home are more likely to win than the visiting team, due to a surge of testosterone (an evolved drive to defend territory).
   • Team members who felt a burden of defending territoty was on them, then they experience higher levels of testosterone.

Anotações:

• Found support for the link between xenophobia and violent displays in Hungarian football crowds.
• Racist conduct of a core of extremist supporters led to an increase in spectators violence.

Anotações:

• Football fans. Crowd support rated significant factor contributing to home advantage.
• Fans felt responsible for inspiring team victory, taking credit for distracting the opposing teams. 
• However, the precise way in which displays of support have an effect is hard to pinpoint.

Anotações:

• Measles epidemic caused quarantine caused 11 American basketball games for 2 teams to be played in absence of spectators. Siena Saints-9 away games analysed. 5 with spectators, 4 without. 
• Scored an average of 76.25 in front of spectators, and 86.20 in the absence of.
• Display of support home crowds didn't increase performance.