Gratitude in the Context of Football: Does (And How Does) Gratitude Reduce Indirect Aggression Tendencies Toward Outgroup Members in Football Supporters?

Kievit, M.E. (2023) Gratitude in the Context of Football: Does (And How Does) Gratitude Reduce Indirect Aggression Tendencies Toward Outgroup Members in Football Supporters? Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Research has shown that gratitude enhances prosocial behaviors, stimulates positive emotions, and decreases antisocial behaviors in the context of interpersonal relationships (e.g., DeWall et al., 2012; Fredrickson, 1998; McCullough et al., 2002). However, the effects of gratitude in the intergroup context are unknown. This paper explores whether and how gratitude may lead to reduced indirect aggression tendencies toward the outgroup in the context of the FIFA World Cup 2022. We hypothesized that gratitude leads to reduced indirect aggression tendencies toward the outgroup. Next, we hypothesized that gratitude leads to increased feelings of empathy. Thirdly, we hypothesized that empathy mediates the relationship between gratitude and indirect aggression tendencies toward the outgroup. We conducted an online experiment and used a sample of 203 English national football supporters. We did not find a significant effect of condition on indirect aggression tendencies toward the outgroup. Participants in the gratitude condition did not show lower indirect aggression tendencies toward the outgroup than those in the control condition. We did find a significant effect of condition on empathy. Participants in the gratitude condition indicated significantly higher feelings of empathy than participants in the control condition. Finally, we found no significant indirect effect of gratitude on indirect aggression tendencies toward the outgroup via increased feelings of empathy. Exploratory analyses showed a significant indirect effect of gratitude on helping intentions via increased feelings of empathy, which suggests that gratitude and empathy have the potential to lead to positive intergroup relations. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Figueiredo Leal, A.L.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Applied Social Psychology (ASP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2023 08:16
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2023 08:16
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/2427

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