Jane Austen was undoubtedly right when she wrote in one of her most-loved books Pride and Prejudice: “Angry people are not always wise.” Anger and the set of emotions and behaviours that accompany it, cause it or occur as a result of it, are not usually explainable with rationality. While they’re certainly not excusable, they do provide insight into human behaviour and help us answer the big questions of why and how we behave the way we do.
In July, English football fans made headlines in news reports worldwide for their hooliganism and other acts of violence after the English national team lost the final match against Italy in the Euro Cup 2020. Their aggression was well-documented across news channels and social media but since it is not particularly ‘news’, these behaviours have also been the subject of many social and behavioural psychologists’ curiosity and research for many years prior. All of these acts collectively have a term of their own - Soccer hooliganism.
English fans vandalise property and break down fences after the Euro 2020 final. Credits: PTI
What does soccer or football hooliganism entail?
Soccer hooliganism is violent behaviour displayed by spectators of soccer or European football. It includes jeering, taunting, name-calling; unarmed fights and shoving; throwing things onto the pitch; disorderly behaviour, especially in larger crowds; attacking fans of rival teams; vandalism of public property and using bats or other kinds of weapons like rocks, glass bottles, knives, guns etc.
This hooliganism takes a whole new meaning when seen through the lens of race. The fans took to social media to share racist slurs and tweets laced with harmful and derogatory remarks towards some players of their national team.
Black English players Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were subjected to racial abuse online, with various accounts using the ‘n-word to rebuke and mock their gameplay. This was condemned by many public figures worldwide, especially from England.
The Football Association released a statement condemning the racist abuse directed toward the three footballers. Credits: FA Spokesperson/Twitter
Responding to the racist abuse, British prime minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “This England team deserves to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media. Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
It was also reported that the English fans attacked Italian fans, burned the Italian flag and passed racist comments. They vandalised the streets, threw bottles in the stadium, and broke barriers and fences before beating up Asian and African people in the vicinity.
An Italian flag was burned in the aftermath of the English team’s loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final on July 11, 2021. Credits: AFP
These occurrences aren’t particularly new but they have been the subject of much wonder and study. What is it that makes them so angry? Why does that anger translate to aggressive acts towards people around them? Is it an individual behaviour or a phenomenon studied under social psychology? To understand this, we must first understand the anger.
What is anger?
While there may not be a common reason as to why people get angry the world over, psychologists agree that anger is a secondary emotion, usually masking something else underneath. It has been found that this anger that they experience - and the aggression as a result of it - is covering up for the underlying primary emotions of sadness and disappointment. It could also be caused by stress and anxiousness, fear of losing control over things, resentment and feeling hurt.
When Frank Herbert wrote: “How often is it that the angry man rages denial of what his inner self is telling him,” psychologists world over must have nodded in affirmation. Football fans, especially male football fans that have been studied in the aftermath of a loss, have had difficulty acknowledging and accepting the defeat of their favourite team even while they are aware of the reality.
What effect does anger have on one’s body?
Anger isn’t a negative emotion as popular media would like to portray it. It spurs action that has many positive outcomes. This is because of the several biological and physiological effects anger has, which, according to the situation and our perception, can be a boon or a bane. Anger prepares our body for a fight or flight reaction. Adrenaline and cortisol pump into our blood, leading to increasing heart rate, blood pressure and respiration rate, rushing blood to the muscles to prepare for movement. While all these are positives, research has found that prolonged explosive anger seriously impairs the efficiency of cognitive processing and decision making.
Effects of anger on the brain and body. Credits: nicabm.com
Unhealthy means of dealing with this anger lead to violence and aggressive acts, usually directed toward subjects that have nothing to do with the root cause of the anger. This is called displacement. For example, when a child that failed to score a goal kicks the football harder, they are directing their anger (that’s covering up the feeling of hurt) towards the ball, which had nothing to do with their inability to score a goal.
But...why does anger become deadly aggression in football fans?
Most people experience anger but does this mean that everyone is sure to get aggressive? No. The question that then follows is why many football fans, who don’t lose these football matches themselves, feel the need to express this anger in ways that bring harm to others.
There are multiple studies that show this has to do with social situations and the perception of one’s actions in a social group. But the reasons are not limited to that.
In the paper ‘The Importance of Low Basal Cortisol and a Fair Referee’ (van der Meij et. al, 2015), for which a total of 74 male football fans participated in the study, it was found that football fan aggression was a complex phenomenon that made it tricky to draw cause-effect relations. It was, however, noticed that younger fans tended to be more aggressive and were more likely to commit violence due to the increased likelihood of impulsivity. The frustration-aggression hypothesis explained the feeling of frustration experienced by long-standing fans quickly triggered aggressive behaviour.
What also mattered was how the fans appraised the loss. If it was clear that the team they supported brought the loss on themselves and was blamed for it, levels of aggression were much lower than if the referee was to blame.
It was also found that the means to reduce aggression were equally as complex as the factors leading to aggression. It was not just mood, but each fan’s appraisal of the situation and approach to such events that differed. The paper also offered suggestions to improve the situation by suggesting the use of technical innovations to arrive at more factual decisions.
Football Fan Aggression: The Importance of Low Basal Cortisol and a Fair Referee - Scientific Figure.
Credits: www.researchgate.net
Is there a theory behind why English football fans behave this way in a group?
Multiple, actually.
Social psychologists have reason to believe that groupthink or mob mentality is in play here. The presence or absence of other people strongly influences how we behave in social situations - this is one of the primary claims of socio-psychological research. Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when people in a group wish to conform to group ideas and partake in group activities to maintain harmony. People in a group can be influenced and even feel empowered to adopt certain behaviours of their peers because they might want to avoid conflict. Individuals in a group or, in this case, football fans watching a match can be heavily influenced by groupthink leading them to make irrational decisions led purely by emotion. All they need is one person to start with the violence.
There might also be a flawed perception that these kinds of reactions are expected of them even if nobody around them is reacting in that manner. This is what makes it easier for an individual unaffected by this groupthink to instigate a large number of people for their selfish needs.
The need to belong to a group has a blinding effect on most people, forcing them to do whatever they have to feel a sense of solidarity and shared identity with the rest. English football fans tend to attach immense importance to feelings of national pride and oneness, so much so, that it becomes part of their identity. Failure of any kind is thus harder to accept because it brings a feeling of failure and shame on a personal level.
Due to this kind of thought process, the individual loses a sense of self-awareness, individuality and evaluation in a group, leading to an increase in behaviours that go against social norms. This is called deindividuation, which also explains why people get so easily riled up in groups and act out. They may perceive it to be easier to behave impulsively when part of a group without paying any heed to potential consequences.
Individuals tend to lose their sense of self-awareness in a group, especially when they share common interests. Credits: unsplash.com
Social identity theory also explains the ‘us vs. them’ ideology that is at the root of all such beliefs and actions. According to the theory, fans of one team see themselves as one group and the fans of the rival team as the ‘other’ group, leading to developing negative attitudes about them. Because English fans see themselves as ‘one’ and supposedly better than the other teams’ fans, they conform to the norms of their group.
Then again, it is also possible that, since they are aware of the status they have, as ‘the belligerent crowd’, they may willingly continue to behave in ways that prove the tag right. Sean Ingle, Guardian’s chief sports reporter, in a report from Porto in 2019, wrote about how most such fans saw nothing wrong with their behaviour. There was an elevated sense of ‘nationalism’ in vandalising property and abusing other fans as they believed they were doing their country proud.
What are the outcomes?
Besides the racist abuse by the fans, another harmful outcome has been observed. English football outcomes have directly impacted levels of safety and harmony in homes, especially for English women.
A study conducted by National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) in the United Kingdom found that, regardless of the outcome, domestic violence increased every time England’s national team played. If they lost, it rose to 38%. This caused the international community to join together to condemn this violent behaviour outside and inside homes in England.
This is not to say the sport causes this to happen. These numbers only mean that pre-existing behaviours are worsened due to men attaching extreme importance to the sport.
What should be done?
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, a number of measures can be taken to reduce hooliganism and displays of aggressive behaviour by football fans.
Banning unruly fans is one such measure. Following the Euro Cup, several petitions made rounds online asking for racist fans to be banned from attending matches. The UEFA investigated the aftermath of the match and while its verdict is awaited, Gareth Southgate, English football manager has said that he fears England could be asked to play without its fans.
Reducing alcohol availability and ensuring adequate seating for all are other ways this can be handled effectively since many studies link increased use of alcohol to increased violence by fans. It is also crucial to prepare stadium staff for such incidents and to develop stricter codes of conduct in collaboration with local authorities and club management to reduce the risk of spectator violence in England.
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