Psychological Changes in Watching a Sport: A Case Study of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa^(TM)

The viewership ratings of the Japanese team's games at Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup South Africa 2010^(TM) broke records. This study focused on spectators' emotions and aims to verify the emotions experienced by viewers before and after watching the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010^(TM) and to experimentally investigate how these emotions fluctuate after watching mediated sports. A questionnaire survey was conducted twice with the same subjects (n=10). All the subjects watched two live matches (Japan vs. Netherlands and Japan vs. Demark) together via a projector in a university laboratory. A two-way ANOVA was performed to analyze the subjects' emotions before and after the games and the outcomes of the games. In addition, Bonferroni tests were performed. The results showed that watching Japan win a game aroused positive/strong emotions (excitement, delight, activity, and motivation), positive/moderate emotions (refreshment, pride, and affection), and a relatively neutral/strong emotion (surprise). Furthermore, the results revealed that watching Japan lose a game aroused negative/strong emotions (anger and hostility), negative/moderate emotions (dissatisfaction and discouragement), and negative/weak emotions (depression, tiredness, and anxiety). The discussion mainly focuses on emotions such as delight, a positive/strong emotion; pride, a positive/moderate emotion, and on emotions affecting psychological health such as refreshment and tiredness.