Iouri Bernache-Assollant

Who they are

Bernache-Assollant led two studies, written with Raphael Laurin, of fans of elite French rugby union. The first had 153 casual spectators and found that team identification was a strong driver of loyal reactions after defeat. The second had 64 die-hard fans and found that team identification was the best predictor of one family of loyal reactions, while territorial identification best predicted the first strategies used.

The article on sports fans uses the paper to show that the strength of the tie decides what a supporter does after a loss.

Key papers

Bernache-Assollant, I. and Laurin, R. (2012), International Journal of Psychological Research 5(1), 122-132.

Key ideas

The strength of identification with a team shapes loyal reactions after defeat.

Territorial identification predicts the first strategies fans use.

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