Newswise — Even in non-Olympics years, sports fans -- and even casual followers -- cannot avoid news stories about high-profile professional and amateur athletes found guilty of or charged with using illegal, performance-enhancing drugs. It's no surprise that Americans might watch the Olympics with a healthy dose of skepticism.
"It's gotten to the point where almost any strong athletic performance is dubious," said Edward R. Hirt, a psychology professor at Indiana University and an expert on fan behavior. "It changes our whole attitude about how much we want to get involved. If we're expecting to be disappointed, we want to be disengaged a little so we won't be disappointed."
Still, unlike professional sports, which we're often reminded are businesses, the Olympics are supposed to be about amateur athletes focusing on a chance of a lifetime. Hirt said the back stories -- the sacrifices some athletes make to compete and their motivation -- often are important and inspiring. Americans, he says, want to believe the best, particularly when it comes to likable athletes and favored sports.
"We object to scrutiny and innuendo about a liked performer or athlete," Hirt said, "but display an entirely different level of skepticism and doubt about someone we don't like."
And when athletes -- even heroes -- make a mistake, Americans often are sympathetic and forgiving, ready for a good comeback story or tale of resurrection. But, Hirt said, when athletes do not own up to the truth, or if they only apologize when caught after years of denials, they get little sympathy. A more likely reaction is, "You lied about it and now you want us want to believe that you're sorry?" Hirt's research involving fan behavior has focused on the reasons fans have such profound allegiances to various teams and players and what they derive from this association.
More Olympics insights: --To read what IU professors have to say about controversial high-tech swimsuits, Tibetan independence, China's efforts to protect endangered species, a faulty track & field starting system, and sports law, please visit http://newsinfo.iu.edu/tips/page/normal/8331.html. --To read what IU professors have to say about pollution, Chinese image issues and the impact controversy involving China can have on athletes, please visit http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/7980.html.
RSS