England football fans cheering
Government and politics, Social and behavioural

A sense of belonging

With less than a week to go before the football World Cup in Qatar kicks off, Daniel MacInerney BSc(Hons) MSc and MBPsS, a member of the BPS Political Psychology Section, examines the psychology of patriotism and tribalism among fans of the beautiful game.

15 November 2022

By Guest

We all like to have a sense of belonging and acceptance by and from others, and tribalism and patriotism are just two of the things that can provide this. Fans of football, and it can be said that any sport where there is international competition such as the World Cup, European Championships or Olympic and Paralympic Games, where the competitors play for their country instead of themselves, (at the individual or team level) or their club, (at a domestic team level) can often display both, sometimes passionately.

A feeling of belonging to a tribe or a country, or even a community, not only gives us a sense of acceptance, but it can also enhance social cohesion. This is often evident in sport, especially team sports such as football and rugby.

All too often patriotism is seen as a dirty word, often associated with nationalism and far right political parties. It is often used by politicians to whip up fervour among the population and to exploit international sporting events like the World Cup for short-term political gain, as well as to win votes.

This has resulted in patriotism getting a bad name, and as far back as the 18th century, the writer Samuel Johnson remarked that, 'Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel'. By that, he meant that instead of being used in a positive way to bind people together and create social cohesion, it was, and still is used as a way of creating social and cultural division within society.

In the case of football, it has always been a tribal sport at both domestic (club) and international (country) level, and Dionisio et al (2008) found that while football first came into being in 19th century England, since that time tribal behaviours have formed in supporters due to the emotion created by the shared passion.

This creates a sense of social cohesion among fans of a particular club along with the shared cult of common meeting places and their love of their club, which in turn makes them feel at ease by being with other people who share the same passion for their club or 'tribe'.

While tribalism at a domestic club level may create the behaviours explained, when footballers play for their domestic clubs at an international level against domestic clubs of other countries, such as the in UEFA Champions League or European Cup Winners Cup, or for their country in events like the World Cup and the European Championship, then tribalism takes on an entirely different dynamic.

It is at this level that loyalty to one's domestic and national football teams and even to one's country come into play. Fans may be draped in flags and can sometimes be seen with the national flag painted on their faces or tattooed into their skin.

It is also on such occasions that far right groups may exploit the situation for their own short-term political gain and to reinforce political affiliations in some fans. This does not mean that there is anything wrong with patriotism or tribalism per se, rather that they can be exploited for ulterior motives, instead of being used to create cohesion and inclusion. 

It is in English football in particular that patriotism and tribalism have gained a bad name through a history of hooliganism both inside and outside the stadium, showing the ugly side of tribalism and patriotism (Argyle 1990, 1994, 1996), (Hayes 1998), (Hogg and Vaughan 2011).

However, despite past efforts to address it, hooliganism is on the rise again both domestically and internationally as we saw with the violence before and after the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy last summer, as well as following some recent domestic matches.

What hooliganism may have exposed is how fractured society and politics is, especially following the Brexit vote in 2016. This would have impacted on fans' sense of patriotism in a negative way, as it did after the Euro 2020 final, possibly making England fans feel they could attack the fans of the opposing national team with impunity.

This year's World Cup, which Qatar will host for the first time in its history, will be a very big occasion, not only for the Qatar National Football Team but for the Qatar fans as well.

It will take patriotism and tribalism in that country to an entirely different level, with hosting and participating in the biggest international football event in the world helping to boost patriotism and tribalism, creating an increased sense of national pride as a consequence. It could even inspire a generation of Qatar youngsters to take up football at both domestic and national level.

For a tournament that has been mired, for a number of reasons, in controversy, that would be a welcome result.

References

Argyle M(1990). The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour. Penguin(p103)

Argyle M(1994). The Psychology of Social Class. Routledge (p253)

Argyle M(1996). The Social Psychology of Leisure. Penguin(p234-35)

Hayes N. Foundations of Psychology Second Edition. Nelson (p436)

Hogg and Vaughan. Social Psychology Sixth Edition. Prentice Hall (p472)

Dionisio P, Moutino L, Leal C (2008). Fandom Affiliation and Tribal Behaviour: A sports marketing application. Qualitative Market Research