The influence of cultural values on spectators’ sport attitudes and team identification: An East-West perspective

The impacts of national cultural-value configurations on spectator sport attitudes and fan team identification were examined. The proposition was explored that associations among fans’ sports attitudes and team identification are weaker in cultures with value systems centering on the pursuit of knowledge versus cultures centering on individual liberty and enjoyment of life. Surveys of comparable samples of college students were taken from 3 countries: Korea (n = 92), Taiwan (n = 99), and USA (n = 167). It was found that the relationships between spectator sport attitudes and team identification were higher for the American sample than for the Korean and Taiwanese samples. This pattern of findings supported the proposition.