Understanding Variation in Reactions to Displays of Allegiance

Abstract

Sports team rivalries involve expressions of evolved psychology related to in-group loyalty and inter-group competition. ESPN ranked the University of Michigan–Ohio State University football rivalry as the greatest North American sports rivalry. Toledo, Ohio is geographically closer to Ann Arbor, MI (UM), than to Columbus, OH (OSU) and conventional wisdom holds that team loyalty is divided among local residents. Previous observational research of thousands of individuals in Toledo indicated that no one simultaneously wore apparel from the two competing teams. Inspired by these observations, a second study examined reactions to displays of mixed loyalty vs. consistent loyalty. When a research confederate wore clothing featuring both UM and OSU, he elicited more attention and reactions than when wearing equivalent outfits featuring just one of the universities. The current study examines factors explaining individual differences in attention to displays of allegiance to rival groups, whether consistent or mixed. We made several predictions for explaining variation in reaction rates based on evolved coalitional psychology. We predicted that men, young adults in the typical undergraduate age range (18-25), and those wearing university merchandise themselves will have higher reaction rates to the confederate than women, individuals in other age groups, and individuals not wearing university merchandise respectively. These hypotheses were generally supported by our observations (n = 1292). Controlling for experimental condition, reaction rates were higher overall for men, young adults, and those wearing university merchandise themselves. The highest reaction rates were by young adult men wearing university merchandise, to the mixed condition.