Sport team identification and belief in team curses: the case of the Boston Red Sox and the Curse of the Bambino.
Wann, Daniel L. ; Zaichkowsky, Len
Although research (Anderson & Stone, 1981; Lieberman, 1991 ;
Thomas, 1986) indicates that most people are at least moderately
involved in sport as fans (i.e., persons with an interest in a sport,
team, and/or player, see Warm, Meinick, Russell, & Pease, 2001),
relatively little is known about the cognitive, affective, and
behavioral reactions of these persons (at least relative to information
on athletes). In fact, in their research of the sport psychological and
sport sociological literatures, Warm and Hamlet (1995) found that less
than five percent of the research had targeted fans and spectators.
Recent years appear to have seen an increase in research on fans (Wannet
al., 2001), and our understanding of topics such as fan violence
(Mustonen, Arms, & Russell, 1996; Warm, 1993), hero worship (Wann et
al., 2001), perceptions of other fans (Warm & Branscombe, 1995; Wann
& Grieve, 2005), and attendance (Laverie & Arnett, 2000; Trail,
Anderson, & Fink, 2000; Wakefield, 1995; Zhang, Pease, Hui, &
Michaud, 1995) has improved. However, many topics related to the
reactions of these persons have yet to be empirically examined. One such
topic, and the focus of the current investigation, involves the tendency
for fans to believe that certain teams are or have been cursed.
Researchers and theorists from a variety of social scientific
backgrounds have reviewed a number of different curses. For example,
authors have discussed the possibility of curses impacting people such
as members of the Barrymore and Kennedy families (Cawley, 1998; Klein,
2003), places such the town of Carlisle, England (Dix, 2005), and things
such as the Hope Diamond (Goldman, 2002). Researchers have also examined
curses plaguing archeological projects at various locations, such as the
Mummy's Curse of King Tut's Tomb (Rompalske, 2000; Soren,
2000). Curses were popular in many ancient cultures and civilizations
including Babylonian, Latin, Egyptian, Islamic, and Irish, to name but a
few (Faraone, Garland, & Lopez-Ruiz, 2005; Frankfurter, 2006; Kitz,
2004). Certainly, there are a number of different Biblical curses,
including those mentioned in Deuteronomy, Job, Daniel, and Exodus
(Moore, 2004; Pettys, 2002; Swartz, 2006; Wittstruck, 1978). However,
curses are not limited to ancient times. Rather, curses can also be
found among individuals residing in modern cultures, including persons
in Africa, Asia, India, and even the United States (Golden, 1977;
Johnson et al., 1999; Small, 1999).
With respect to sport, curses have been discussed in several
sports, such as professional football ("Tricky Pickings,"
2005) and professional golf("Bunkered Champions," 1994). In
fact, even a national sport publication, Sports Illustrated, is thought
by some to be cursed, leading to tragedy or poor performances by those
appearing on the cover ("Sports Illustrated," 2006). The sport
that may have the longest and most elaborate relationship with curses is
Major League Baseball. A number of different teams have been thought by
persons to be cursed at various times and for various reasons (Roberts,
2004), including the St. Louis Cardinals (the curse of Keith Hernandez),
the Chicago White Sox (the curse of the "Black Sox"), and the
New York/San Francisco Giants (the curse of Coogan's Bluff). The
most often discussed baseball curses appear to involve the Chicago Cubs
and the Boston Red Sox (Weir, 2003). According to legend, the Chicago
Cubs were cursed in 1945 when the team would not allow the owner of a
local tavern, William Sianis, to bring his goat into Wrigley Field (home
of the Cubs). This angered Sianis who placed a curse on the Cubs, saying
that they would never again win a National League Championship
("The Ball Gets It," 2004).
As for the Boston Red Sox, their curse to believed to have resulted
from the sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in early 1920
("Curse of the Bambino," 2006; Shaughnessy, 2004). A number of
poor performances by individual Red Sox players and the team as a whole
have been blamed on the curse. At the top of this list may well be Billy
Buckner's error during the sixth game of the 1986 World Series.
Buckner's miscue helped the New York Mets come from behind to win
Game 6 and then win the series in 7 games (interestingly, recent photos
suggest that Buckner was wearing a Chicago Cubs batting glove while
playing the field that day, leading some to surmise that he was doubly
cursed, see Lukas, 2006).
The current study was designed to examine beliefs in sport curses
by investigating fan perceptions of the Red Sox Curse. We believed there
would be three person (i.e., subject) variables that would predict
beliefs in the curse: persons believing in luck and magic (i.e.,
mystical things), persons with high levels of baseball fandom, and
persons with high levels of identification with the Boston Red Sox.
First, it was hypothesized that individuals who tend to possess beliefs
in luck and magic would report believing in the Red Sox Curse,
regardless of their level of baseball or Red Sox fandom. These
individuals hold a belief system in which mystical events are perceived
of as reality. Consequently, we should find that these persons believe
in mystical events within the realm of sport, such as the possibility
that certain teams are cursed. Second, we predicted that persons with
high levels of baseball fandom would report a belief in the Cruse of the
Bambino, regardless of their belief in mysticism or their level of
identification with the Boston Red Sox. This prediction was based on the
fact that, given their high level of interest in baseball, these persons
would have most likely heard numerous accounts of cursed baseball teams,
including the Red Sox. In addition, they may have been a follower of a
different team with had also, according to legion been cursed (e.g., the
Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox).
The third prediction was at the center of this investigation.
Specifically, it was hypothesized that persons with high levels of
identification with the Boston Red Sox would report beliefs in the Red
Sox Curse, above and beyond their belief in mysticism and their level of
baseball fandom. That is, we expected that level of identification would
account for a significant amount of unique variance in beliefs in the
Red Sox Curse. This prediction was based on the newly developed Team
Identification- Social Psychological Health Model (Wann, 2006a).
According to this model, high levels of identification with a sport team
will lead to increased social connections with others. The increased
social connections (i.e., increased social capital) subsequently result
in positive levels of social well-being. Support for the positive
relationship between team identification and social psychological
well-being is quite strong. For example, identification has been found
to be positively correlated with social life satisfaction, extroversion,
social self-esteem, positive affect, and vigor, and negatively related
to loneliness and alienation (Branscombe &Wann, 1991; Wann, Dunham,
Byrd, & Keenan, 2004; Wann, Inman, Ensor, Gates, & Caldwell,
1999; Wann & Pierce, 2005). Further, research indicates a causal
pattern in which identification predicts subsequent psychological health
(Wann, 2006b) and is not limited to a specific setting, such as at an
athletic event (Wann, Walker, Cygan, Kawase, & Ryan, 2005) or
culture (Wann, Dimmock, & Grove, 2003).
However, Wann (2006a) notes that sport fans often report negative
affect in response to their team's performances, particularly those
that were not successful (Hirt, Zilimann, Erickson, & Kennedy, 1992;
Schwarz, Strack, Kommer, & Wagner, 1987). That is, highly identified
fans feel threatened by their team's performance. Consequently,
they need to develop strategies that assist in their attempts to cope
with the identity threat. Lowly identified fans will not be threatened
by the team's failures because the role of team follower is only a
peripheral component of their overall social identity (Branscombe,
Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 1999; Wann, Royalty, & Roberts,
2000). Wann discussed a number of coping strategies utilized by fans
including biased attributions (Wann & Dolan, 1994; Wann &
Schrader, 2000) and outgroup derogation (Wann, 1993; Branscombe &
Warm, 1994). Another potential coping strategy mentioned by Wann
involves beliefs in team curses. Wann suggested that beliefs in curses
may aid in the identity protection of highly identified fans, noting
that it is certainly better to believe that your team lost because they
were cursed rather than because the team lacked talent,
"choked," and so forth. For instance, consider the 2003
National League Playoff series between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida
Marlins Major League Baseball teams. The Cubs held a 3 games to 2 lead
in the series and were leading the sixth game in the eighth inning, when
a fan interfered with a Cub player's attempt to catch a foul ball.
The Cubs proceeded to give up the lead, lose the game, and then lose
Game 7 and the series the following day. For Cubs fans, it was much
easier on their social identity to blame the interfering fan and the
Curse of the Billy Goat than to focus on the team's poor pitching
and defense that immediately followed the event. Thus, consistent with
Wann's (2006a) theoretical model, it was hypothesized that highly
identified Red Sox fans would report believing in the Red Sox Curse.
Such a belief should assist in their ability to cope with the
team's failures, thereby protecting an important social identity.
Method
Participants
The convenience sample of participants contained 250 university
students (84 male, 166 female) from either a mid-southern university (n
= 16l) or a university in the Boston area (n = 89). These schools were
chosen because participants enrolled at these universities were likely
to have a high level of fandom at one school (i.e., the one in Boston)
and low levels at the other, resulting in wide range in interest in the
Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball Team. Respondents received extra
course credit in a college class in exchange for participation.
Participants had a mean age of 20.33 years (SD = 2.69; range = 18 to
47).
Materials and Procedure
Upon entering the testing room and providing their consent,
participants (tested in groups) completed a questionnaire packet
containing five sections. The first section contained demographic items
assessing age and gender. The second section contained the a modified
version of the Sport Fandom Questionnaire (SFQ), a reliable and valid
five-item (Liken scale format) instrument assessing level of sport
fandom (Wann, 2002). Items on the SFQ were reworded slightly to target
baseball fandom (e.g., "I consider myself to be a baseball
fan") rather than general sport fandom. Response options to the SFQ
ranged from l (low random) to 8 (high fandom). Thus, higher numbers
indicated greater levels of baseball fandom.
The third section of the questionnaire packet contained six items
designed to assess beliefs in the Curse of the Bambino (i.e., the Red
Sox Curse). Because testing occurred shortly after the Red Sox won the
2004 World Series (they won the World Series again in 2007), three
questions focused on retrospective beliefs in the curse while three
items focused on current beliefs. As for retrospective beliefs, the
participants read, "For the following items, please think back a
few weeks, prior to the Boston Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series.
Answer the questions below based on your beliefs PRIOR to the team
winning the World Series." Using a 1 (strongly disagree) to 8
(strongly agree) Likert-scale, participants answered the following three
items: a) "Prior to the Boston Red Sox winning the 2004 World
Series, I believed that a curse was to blame for the misfortunes that
had happened to the Red Sox during the previous several decades,"
b) "Prior to the Boston Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series, I
believed that one reason the Red Sox had failed to win a championship in
several decades was due to the fact that they were cursed," and c)
"Prior to the Boston Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series, I felt
that if it were not for the curse of the Bambino, the Red Sox would have
won a championship within the past 20 years." With respect to
current beliefs, the participants read, "For the following items,
please answer how you CURRENTLY feel, that is, now that the Boston Red
Sox have won a World Series. Your responses may or may not be the same
as above." Once again, participants used a 1 (strongly disagree) to
8 (strongly agree) Likert-scale to answer three items (thus, for each of
the six items, higher numbers reflected greater beliefs in the Red Sox
Curse). These items were: a) "Now, after the Boston Red Sox have
won the 2004 World Series, I currently believe that a curse was to blame
for the misfortunes that had happened to the Red Sox during the previous
several decades," b) "Now, after the Boston Red Sox have won
the 2004 World Series, I currently believe that one reason the Red Sox
had failed to win a championship in several decades was due to the fact
that they were cursed," and c) "Now, after the Boston Red Sox
have won the 2004 World Series, I currently feel that if it were not for
the curse of the Bambino, the Red Sox would have won a championship
within the past 20 years."
The fourth portion of the packet contained the Sport Spectator
Identification Scale (SSIS; Wann & Branscombe, 1993). The SSIS
contains seven Likert-scale items assessing identification with a sport
team. Response options ranged from 1 (low identification) to 8 (high
identification). Thus, higher numbers reflected greater levels of team
identification. Wann and Branscombe present data indicating that this
scale is a highly reliable and valid instrument (see Wann et al., 2001,
for a review of this scale). Subjects were asked to target the Boston
Red Sox Major League Baseball team when completing this scale (e.g.,
"How strongly do YOU see YOURSELF as a fan of the BOSTON RED
SOX?").
The fifth portion of the packet was designed to assess beliefs in
mysticism. To accomplish this, participants completed seven items from
the Belief in Paranormal Scale (BPS; Tobacyk & Milford, 1982; Stark,
1992). The BPS contains two subscales, one assessing belief in
witchcraft (4 items; e.g., "Black magic really exists") and
one assessing superstition (3 items; e.g., "The number
"13" in unlucky"). Response options ranged from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Thus, higher numbers
reflected greater beliefs in magic and superstition.
After the participants had completed their questionnaire packet,
they returned them to the researcher who handed them a debriefing
statement. This statement disclosed the purpose and hypotheses of the
study and contained information on contacting the author for a report of
the research. Once each participant had received the debriefing
statement, he or she was excused from the testing session (sessions
lasted approximately 15 minutes).
Results
Preliminary Analyses
Means and standard deviations for all measures appear in Table 1.
The seven items comprising the SSIS (Cronbach's alpha = .965) were
combined to form a single index of identification. Similarly, the five
items comprising the SFQ (alpha = .964) were combined to form a single
index of baseball fandom. The six items assessing beliefs in the Red Sox
Curse were examined using exploratory factor analysis (varimax
rotation). This analysis indicated a single factor accounting for 91.58%
of the variance (Eigenvalue = 5.49, all loadings > than .930). Thus,
these six items were combined to form one index of beliefs in the curse
(alpha = .981). The seven items comprising the witchcraft and
superstition subscales of the BPS were also examined using exploratory
factor analysis (varimax rotation). This analysis indicated two factors.
Factor I contained the four items assessing belief in magic and
accounted for 48.82% of the variance (Eigenvalue = 3.42, all loadings
> .550). Thus, these four items were combined for form one index of
beliefs in magic (alpha = .794). Factor 2 contained the three items
assessing belief in superstition and accounted for 21.46% of the
variance (Eigenvalue = 1.50, all loadings > .540). Thus, these three
items were combined to form one index of beliefs in superstition (alpha
= .797).
Gender differences in scores on the five measures (i.e., SFQ, SSIS,
belief in the Red Sox Curse, belief in magic, and belief in
superstition) were examined using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance
(MANOVA). This analysis yielded a highly significant multivariate
effect, Wilks' Lambda (5,244) = 445.57, p < .001 (see Table 1).
Univariate tests revealed significant gender differences on three of the
five measures. Specifically, males reported significantly higher levels
of baseball fandom, F(1, 248) = 20.43, p < .001, identification with
the Boston Red Sox, F(1,248) = 7.42, p < .01, and beliefs in the Red
Sox Curse, F(1,248) = 6.07, p < .02. Gender differences were not
found for beliefs in magic or superstition (both F's < 2.70,
p's > .10). Because of the significant gender effects, gender
was included in the regression analyses described below.
Similarly, university differences in scores on the five measures
(i.e., SFQ, SSIS, belief in the Red Sox Curse, belief in magic, and
belief in superstition) were also examined using a MANOVA. This analysis
yielded a highly significant multivariate effect, Wilks' Lambda (5,
244) = 500.71, p < .001 (see Table 1). Univariate tests revealed
significant school differences on each scale, with the exception of
belief in magic, on which mid-southern university students scored
marginally higher than students from the Boston area, F(1,248) = 3.30, p
= .07. On each of the other four indices, students at the Boston
university reported significantly higher scores [levels of baseball
fandom, F(1, 248) = 29.38, p < .001; identification with the Boston
Red Sox, F(1, 248) = 75.35,p < .001; beliefs in the Red Sox Curse,
F(1, 248) = 9.13,p < .005; beliefs in luck, F(1,248) = 6.27, p <
.02]. Because of the significant university effects, home university was
included in the regression analyses described below.
Predictors of Belief in the Red Sox Curse
Simple correlations among the variables appear in Table 2. To
examine the hypothesized pattern of effects, level of baseball fandom
(i.e., SFQ scores), level of identification with the Boston Red Sox
(i.e., SSIS scores), belief in magic, and belief in superstition were
entered into a regression equation as predictors of beliefs in the Red
Sox Curse. Participant sex and university were also included as
predictors due to the strong impact of these variables described above.
The combined effect of the six predictor variables was significant, F(6,
243) =23.76, p < .001. With respect to independent contributions to
beliefs in the Red Sox Curse, neither participant sex (Beta = -.084, t =
- 1.56, p >. 10) nor participant university (Beta = -.065, t =
-l.09,p > .25) were independently related to beliefs in the curse. In
support of the hypothesized pattern of effects, each of the other four
variables accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in
beliefs in the Red Sox Curse: baseball fandom Beta = .205, t = 3.34, p
< .001; identification with the Red Sox Beta = .315, t = 4.89, p <
.001; belief in magic Beta =. 143, t = 2.56, p <.02; belief in luck
Beta =.304, t = 5.38, p <.001.
Discussion
The current study was designed to examine sport fans' beliefs
in sport curses, specifically, belief in the Red Sox Curse (i.e., the
Curse of the Bambino). Three person variables were hypothesized to be
predictive of beliefs in the Red Sox Curse: believing in luck and magic
(i.e., mystical things), high levels of baseball fandom, and high levels
of identification with the Boston Red Sox. The regression analysis
revealed strong statistical support for each hypothesis (participant sex
and university were not significant). Thus, independent of their level
of baseball fandom and their level of identification, persons possessing
a belief in mystical forces tended to believe in the Red Sox Curse.
Similarly, independent of their belief in luck and magic and their level
of identification with the Boston Red Sox, persons with high levels of
baseball fandom tended to believe in the curse.
However, we wish to focus the present discussion on the last
finding due to its significance and implications for the cognitive,
affective, and behavioral reactions of sport fans (and potentially
players). The data indicated that, independent of beliefs in mystical
forces and level of baseball fandom, higher levels of identification
with the Boston Red Sox were predictive of greater beliefs in the Red
Sox Curse. As described earlier, such a finding is best understood
within the framework of Wann's (2006a) Team Identification- Social
Psychological Health Model. According to this model, highly identified
sport fans develop and use coping strategies to assist them as they
attempt to deal with the anxiety and negative emotional consequences
associated with threats to their identity as a loyal team follower
(e.g., the threat of poor team performance). One such strategy would be
to adopt the belief that one's team is cursed. In this way, the fan
could excuse the team's poor performance as beyond the control of
the players. Strategic attributional patterns such as this are quite
common among highly identified fans (Wann & Dolan, 1994; Wann &
Schrader, 2000). That is, fans protect their identity as a fan by
blaming the curse rather than blaming the team, its players, management,
and so on.
However, it warrants mention that, although the data reported above
are consistent with the propositions put forth in Wann's (2006a)
theoretical model, the current investigation did not directly assess the
relationship between beliefs in the curse and either state or trait
levels of well-being. Rather, additional research is necessary to
further establish these relationships. One such study could involve
manipulating the salience and apparent validity of sport curses. For
instance, consider highly identified fans of the Chicago Cubs Major
League Baseball Team (a team thought by some to be cursed, see above).
It would be interesting to present these individuals with information
describing the long history of disappointments experienced by the team
and its fans. Such a presentation would likely be felt as a threat to
the competence of one's group and a valued component of one's
social identity (Branscombe et al., 1999). Subsequent to this threat,
researchers could then present information on possible existence of the
Curse of the Billy Goat as a potential explanation for the team's
failures. Such a presentation would make the curse salient to those
already possessing a belief in its validity and would lend credit to its
existence to other highly identified fans. If fans do indeed use sport
curses as a means of protecting their identity from threats, one would
predict that fans receiving the curse-focused information would report
better coping (i.e., the performance threat would have less of an
impact) than persons not receiving the curse information.
The current investigation indicates that highly identified fans
often report a belief that their team has been cursed, likely due in
part to assist in their coping with the team's poor performance.
Another interesting question involves the extent to which players also
believe in sport curses. Anecdotal reports suggest that some players may
well believe in the possibility of such curses. For instance, members of
the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) have frequently discussed the
possibility of a curse surrounding the U.S. Open Tournament
("Bunkered Champions," 1994). Although other players may not
believe in sport curses, some certainly acknowledge that the myths exist
(for example, former Red Sox player Johnny Damon authored a book titled
"Idiot: Beating 'The Curse' and Enjoying the Game of
Life"). Additionally, certain players have expressed disbelief in
team curses but maintain a belief in some form of supernatural
intervention (McDonald, 2004). Thus, future researchers should replicate
the research reported here with players in an attempt to identify which
variables best predict beliefs in team curses (and/or supernatural
forces) and the extent to which threat to one's identity as an
athlete (e.g., team performance) impact the magnitude of beliefs.
In conclusion, two limitations of the current investigation warrant
mention. First, as noted above, the Boston Red Sox actually won a World
Series Championship in 2004 (and again in 2007) thus effectively
"ending" the curse. Because testing for the current study
began after the team's 2004 championship, participants were asked
to recall their beliefs about the curse retrospectively, subsequent to
the team's championship. Subsequent research should replicate the
current investigation with fans of a team currently involved in an
active curse, such as the Chicago Cubs, to further the generalizability
of the current findings. Second, this work is limited to only one team
in one sport. As noted above, curses can be found in many sports. Thus,
future investigators should examine other sports in other cultures.
Author's Note
The authors thank Vinutha Mattigod for her assistance with the data
collection. Portions of the research were presented at the Annual
Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport
Psychology, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October, 2005.
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Daniel L. Wann
Murray State University
Len Zaichkowsky
Boston University
Address Correspondence To: Daniel L. Wann, Department of
Psychology, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071, E-mail:
[email protected] Internet.
Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations for the Dependent
Measures by Sex, University, and for the Overall Sample.
Boston
Area
Scale Males Females University
SSIS 21.83 16.66 27.71
(15.84) (13.28) (16.79)
SFQ 23.43 16.74 24.00
(12.20) (10.44) (11.86)
Belief in curse 17.48 13.86 17.88
(12.28) (10.26) (12.59)
Belief in magic 8.93 9.28 8.52
(4.93) (3.80) (4.17)
Belief in superstition 5.33 5.93 6.32
(2.51) (2.87) (2.84)
Mid-
Southern
Scale University Overall
SSIS 13.25 18.40
(9.56) (14.37)
SFQ 16.21 18.98
(10.30) (11.48)
Belief in curse 13.52 15.07
(9.88) (11.09)
Belief in magic 9.52 9.16
(4.20) (4.21)
Belief in superstition 5.41 5.73
(2.68) (2.77)
Notes: Standard deviations appear in parentheses below each
mean. SFQ = Sport Fandom Questionnaire; SSIS = Sport
Spectator Identification Scale.
Table 2. Simple Correlations among the Scales.
Sex University SFQ SSIS
Superstition
University -.04
SFQ -.28 *** .33 ***
SSIS -.17 ** .48 *** .50 ***
Magic .04 -.12 -.10 -.03
Superstition .10 .16 * .08 .15 *
Curse -.16 * .19 ** .37 *** .44 ***
Magic
Superstition
University
SFQ
SSIS
Magic
Superstition .35 ***
Curse .22 *** .40 ***
Notes: SFQ =Sport Fandom Questionnaire; SSIS =Sport
Spectator Identification Scale. Sex was coded 1 = male, 2 =
female. University was coded 1 = mid-southern university, 2
= Boston area university. * p<.05. ** p < .01. *** p<.001.
