Uncertainty, entitativity, and group identification in football fans

Uncertainty reduction theory suggests that people identify most strongly with a group if they feel a high level of self-uncertainty and the group is highly entitative. This study proposed that being a fan is such an integral part of self-identity that when their team faces an uncertain future, fans have higher self-uncertainty. The results indicate that fans of teams facing uncertain futures (promotion or relegation) showed significantly higher levels of self-uncertainty and identified significantly more with their fellow fans than did fans of teams facing a certain future. Implications of this research for the role of uncertainty and social identity in football fans are discussed.