How Do Sport Fans Cope with the Consequences of Fan-Family Conflict?
Keywords:
sport fans, family, inter-role conflict, coping strategiesAbstract
Fan-family conflict refers to the difficulty individuals experience attempting to balance the demands of their fan and family roles (Simmons & Greenwell, 2014). Such conflicts may be due to time or financial constraints, inconsistent behavioral expectations between the two roles, or stress from the fan or family role spilling over to affect performance in the other role. What is unclear are the consequences and outcomes sport fans experience as a result of fan-family conflict. The study aims to address this gap. Using a qualitative research design, 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with sport fans indicating a high level of involvement within both their fan and family roles, to better understand the consequences resulting from fan-family conflict, as well as the coping strategies sport fans employ to navigate these consequences. Results indicated fan-family conflict leads to feelings of guilt over prioritizing the fan role ahead of family, as well as friction between family members. Sport fans developed several strategies designed to cope with fan-family conflict. These include planning, sacrifice, communication, and the use of technology.
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