Paper short abstract:

This talk uses football fans to illustrate cognitive understandings of ritual. How do shared ritual experiences (i.e. matches) facilitate group bonding? What effects do these bonds have on group behaviours? And can ritual be used to tackle football violence and disorder?

Paper long abstract:

Rituals act as markers of group identity and within-group commitment. They can occur in secular contexts, such as sporting events. Football matches frequently attract tens of thousands of fans, who: engage in specific traditions and ritualised group responses (e.g. 'Mexican waves'); use symbols which are accorded sacred status (e.g. club crest); respect a hierarchy of officials, regulating conventions, and taboos; and experience a deeply emotional participation in the event.

Using research conducted among British, Brazilian, Australian, and Indonesian fans, I discuss how shared ritual experiences facilitate group bonding. For example, the euphoria associated with positive match outcomes may be an obvious path to group bonding (often heightened by synchronised actions, e.g. clapping and chanting). Nonetheless, the dysphoria of defeat appears to be particularly powerful in generating an intense, long-lasting form of group cohesion. In this case, particularly harrowing group events bind fans through a process of reflection and self-transformation, which creates a more porous boundary between personal and group identities. This is termed identity fusion.

Football fans also have a notorious reputation for violence and disorder in many parts of the world. Evidence from four continents indicates that identity fusion is a key psychological factor motivating football-related violence and disorder, particularly when highly 'fused' fans experience a threat to their group. Finally, I will discuss the evolution of ritual, its role in cooperation, and how ritual could be used to harness the actions of fused fans for more positive social outcomes.