Football Players Social Identities and their Influence on Precompetitive Group-Based Emotions

Abstract: Introduction: Precompetitive emotions are important for team functioning, performance and satisfaction of being a team member. Social identity constitutes a necessary base for positive emotions (Lindwall et al., 2016). Limited research calls for further examination of the intensity and the directionality of precompetitive group-based emotions in team performance and the influence of different targets of social identity. Objective: To examine two levels of social identities and their influence on precompetitive group-based emotions and perceived directionality. Methods: Seventy-one Swedish senior football players (Mage = 25.35 ± 5.50 years of age) including both males (n = 36; Mage = 27.53 ± 5.63 years of age) and females (n = 35; Mage = 23.11 ± 4.40 years of age), completed an online survey including measurements of identification (Ray et al., 2008; Campo et al., 2019a) and I-PANAS (Thompson, 2007), with the additional inclusion of the direction scale (Jones & Swain, 1992). Results: Identification as a football player influenced precompetitive positive emotions (PE) toward opponents. Precompetitive PE toward both teammates and opponents showed a tendency to be facilitative for performance. Findings also showed gender differences for identification as a football player, precompetitive PE toward teammates and directionality of precompetitive PE and NE toward teammates. Conclusions: The present study further extends the importance of identification and group-based emotions in team sports and how group-based emotions affect team sport athletes. Coaches might adjust their communication to enhance identification of the team before and during competition and ultimately increase team performances.