PREJUDICE, DE-INDIVIDUATED AGGRESSION AND INTER-GROUP CONFLICTS

Football fans', as groups or crowds, are accompanied by varying behavioral and attitudinal manifestations, most of the time, in an unsporting manners. Fans side with in-group members and avoiding out-group members, regardless the kind of relationship they enjoy outside the football scenario. Such in-out' group categorization leads to prejudicial attitudes, group identification and de-individuation. Fans in the state of de- individuation loss their self-awareness, diffuse responsibility, experience altered state of consciousness and a sense of anonymity there by creating fertile ground for inter-group conflicts. The cumulative effects make fans commit diabolical mistakes ranging from homicide to suicide. Social Identification Theory (SIT) accounts for more of the prejudice, anger, aggression, de-individuation, and inter-personal and inter-group conflicts than Self Categorization Theory. In other words, there is no relationship between ethnicity and identification of the fans with the teams and fan groups. Favoring overseas football than local teams exacerbate the nature and extent of the conflict and aggression among the fans.

Autorentext

Brhanu Weldie received his BA degree of Psychology from Addis Ababa University in 2007. He worked as a counselor in the National AIDS Resource Center. Brhanu received his MA in Social Psychology from AAU School of Graduate Studies in 2009. Brhanu is currently a lecturer in Mekelle University (Ethiopia), at the department of Psychology.