A healthy sports culture encourages responsible drinking habits
Sports and alcohol are often intertwined, but a Texas A&M researcher says the type of culture surrounding sports can play a strong role in whether fans drink responsibly.
Credit: Getty Images
After a college sports game, it’s common to find fans celebrating a win or commiserating over a loss with a drink in hand.
According to Dr. Andrea Ettekal, associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University, whether that drinking remains responsible can be influenced by the sports culture surrounding them.
Sports culture is shaped by both visible behaviors and invisible social norms. Banners, chants and traditions can influence how fans identify with one another and their teams while helping establish expectations for how people should behave at sporting events. As a result, the culture surrounding a team or event can have a significant effect on the decisions fans make about how they treat themselves and others, including their drinking habits.
Ettekal said a positive sports culture can promote healthy decision-making and friendly competition, while a negative one can contribute to poor sportsmanship and irresponsible drinking.
When a sports culture is healthy, people can cope with a win or loss without resorting to violence or excessive alcohol use, she said.
“A healthy sports culture would look like providing social support, things like family engagement and peer bonding,” Ettekal said. “Individuals feel a sense of pride and belonging. These are elements that contribute to a healthy sports culture. When those elements exist, the behaviors that are manifested from that culture are healthy behaviors.”
In an unhealthy sports culture, however, alcohol can accelerate dangerous or illegal behavior, Ettekal said.
“If that broader culture is unhealthy, you see things like exclusion, bullying, profanity and treating each other poorly at games,” she said. “It manifests as behaviors like excessive substance abuse, violence and an overall maltreatment toward one another.”
Although alcohol can contribute to violence and other unhealthy behaviors at games, its presence alone does not necessarily signal an unhealthy sports culture, Ettekal said. Instead, the way people use alcohol and the social expectations surrounding drinking are more important.
“Irresponsible alcohol use would be things like binge drinking, excessive chugging of alcohol or encouraging peers to drink when they don’t necessarily want to drink,” she said.
One situation that can increase the risk of irresponsible drinking is the way fans cope with disappointment. Ettekal said inadequate coping following a loss can be a significant trigger of irresponsible alcohol use after a game.
“It can be especially risky at universities where sports are so prized and such a big deal in the community,” she said. “A whole community comes together. The way spectators celebrate or mourn losses affects the way athletes cope with the game. Being responsible consumers of sports means showing athletes we still appreciate them even after a loss and staying strong as a community.”
Responsibility for creating a safe environment does not rest solely with individual fans. While fans make their own decisions about drinking and behavior, the institutions and communities that host sporting events can also help shape the culture surrounding them, Ettekal said.
“Every person should take responsibility over what their sports culture looks like and the ways they engage in it,” she said. “The host of the game can also contribute to curb unhealthy alcohol use at sports events. If the community and host work toward transforming their sports culture to a place of belonging, inclusivity and support despite the contest element, it will trickle down to affect behaviors that we see in everyone who engages in the sport.”
