Spirituality in the stands: sports spectatorship, spirituality, wellbeing and personality

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine if experiencing spirituality through spectating sports is associated with increased wellbeing in sports fans. A sample of 151 American adults who self-identified as sports fans (N = 151) completed questionnaires which measured Sports Spectating Spirituality (SSS), spirituality, wellbeing and the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (r-RST). It was hypothesized that Sports Spectating Spirituality (SSS) would moderate indicators of wellbeing with two factors of r-RST: the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Fight Flight Fright System (FFFS). The analyzes revealed that SSS in the total sample moderated the relationship between BIS and resilience. Within the sample of male sports fans, SSS moderated the relationship between the BIS and both satisfaction with life and resilience. The findings of this study indicate the potential benefits of experiencing SSS, especially for men who are higher on the Behavioral Inhibitions System.

KEYWORDS:

• Reinforcement sensitivity theory
• personality
• spirituality
• wellbeing
• sport
• sports spectating spirituality
• life satisfaction
• resilience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

No external funding was received. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.This manuscript has not been published elsewhere and has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.