Purpose

The growing proportion of older fans and their potential economic value have increased the need for an improved understanding of age differences in fan behaviour. Building on socioemotional selectivity theory, the current study examines the impact of age differences on fan hatred as well as on the extent to which fans actually engage in aggressive activities and fans' perceptions of the levels of appropriateness of certain physical and verbal acts of aggression.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used an online panel-based survey that offered access to a real-world population of sport fans. The participants were 742 fans of professional football (soccer).

Findings

Results from structural equation modelling indicated that older fans reported lower levels of fan hatred, lower self-reported aggression and lower acceptance of physical and verbal aggression. Moreover, fan hatred partially mediated the relationship between age and levels of aggression and between age and acceptance of verbal aggression. In addition, fan hatred fully mediated the relationship between age and acceptance of physical aggression.

Originality/value

The current study makes two important contributions. First, it demonstrates that sport clubs may particularly benefit from understanding the potential but often neglected importance of older sport fans in relation to the problematic phenomenon of fan aggression. Second, it offers a thorough theoretical account of the manner in which fan hatred plays a significant role in the relationships between age and fan aggressiveness.

中文翻译：

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衰老对体育迷攻击性的影响：球迷仇恨的中介作用

目的

老年粉丝的比例不断增加及其潜在的经济价值增加了​​对粉丝行为的年龄差异的更好理解的需求。本研究以社会情感选择性理论为基础，考察了年龄差异对粉丝仇恨的影响，以及粉丝实际参与攻击性活动的程度以及粉丝对某些身体和语言攻击行为适当程度的看法。

设计/方法/方法

该研究使用了一项基于在线小组的调查，该调查提供了接触真实世界体育迷人群的机会。参加者是 742 名职业足球（足球）球迷。

发现

结构方程模型的结果表明，年长的粉丝报告的粉丝仇恨水平较低，自我报告的攻击性较低，对身体和言语攻击的接受程度较低。此外，粉丝仇恨在一定程度上调节了年龄与攻击性水平之间以及年龄与接受言语攻击性之间的关系。此外，粉丝仇恨充分介导了年龄与接受身体攻击之间的关系。

原创性/价值

目前的研究做出了两个重要贡献。首先，它表明体育俱乐部可能会特别受益于了解老年体育迷的潜在但往往被忽视的与球迷攻击这一问题现象相关的重要性。其次，它对粉丝仇恨在年龄和粉丝攻击性之间的关系中发挥重要作用的方式提供了透彻的理论解释。