Can supporting your local team (GO NATIONALS!) make you happier?
Examining the Potential Causal Relationship Between Sport Team Identification and Psychological Well-being by Daniel Wann uses past research and theory to develop a team identification model which suggests that high levels of identifying with a local supports team leads to positive psychological health.
Identifying with a distant sports team or being a fan in general doesn't provide significant well-being benefits. Local team fans benefit from a larger social group, and "associations to other fans form the basis for a valuable connection to society at large and serve as a buffer to loneliness, isolation, and so forth."
You can read more about this topic by searching databases such as SPORTDiscus and PsycINFO which are available in Himmelfarb Library's collections.
Image citation: Fagen, A. (2009). Nationals Park. Retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/afagen/3416538391/
