Date of Award

5-20-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Hazel

Abstract

Sports fans can be emotional and loyal beings, living and dying by their teams’ performance. As people, however, even the most loyal sports fans are aware of how they are perceived by others. This thesis explored fan communication behavior on social media to determine whether sports fans would maintain a strong interest in self-image when surrounded by peers with the same perspective. Tajfel and Turner’s (1986) social identity theory states that individuals use group associations to project a positive self-image. Selective self-presentation states that when people meet online they can curate a positive perception (Walther, 2005). The literature review studied existing research on fan communication behavior and social identity. Basking in reflected glory (BIRG) and cutting off reflected failure (CORF) were among the communication behaviors identified in the literature. Research for this thesis was conducted using comments posted during the 2014 MLB baseball season to gamethreads on the team blogs of the Baltimore Orioles, a winning organization, and Toronto Blue Jays, a losing team. Comments were coded to indicate the posting fan’s intent to identify with or distance from the team. Results indicate that fans of losing teams do attempt to distance themselves from their team, but also BIRG as much as fans of winning teams. Further research is needed to determine whether there are BIRGing and CORFing differences between men and women, as well as how the level of identification a fan has with her team affects the tendency to BIRG and CORF.

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