« Larry Kotlikoff defends the Fair Tax | Main | Assorted links »
Football games make us angry
Some people at least. Daniel Rees writes to me:
...we find that college football games are associated with sharp increases in crime. For instance, assaults increase by about 9% when a community hosts a college football game, vandalism increases by about 18%, and DUIs increase by about 13%. We also find evidence that upsets result in larger increases in crime than games that do not produce an upset. For instance, an upset loss at home is associated with a 112% increase in assaults and a 61% increase in vandalism. We discuss these results in the context of psychological theories of fan aggression.
Here is the paper. I guess those people should have gone to see a violent movie instead!
Addendum: Here is some outside coverage, see also Justin Wolfers at Freakonomics blog as well.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 17, 2008 at 08:12 AM in Sports | Permalink
Comments
Is it possible to arrive at this conclusion
based on these statistics alone? Higher
incidences of such events may be the result of
increased levels of human interaction and
public activity. Anger felt in the home is
more difficult to guage for the purpose of
a survey. Also, there are various motivations
for this type of behaviour
I suspect that football makes a few of us
angry. Even fewer of us will take actions that
mean our anger can be accounted for. The rest
of us are probably either happy or disappointed.
Posted by: Jason at Jan 17, 2008 8:42:00 AM
Consider that in many college towns, the population effectively doubles (or more) on game day. State coState College, PA, for example, has a population of about 30,000, and Penn State has a student population of 40,000 or so. The stadium holds 100,000+, the vast majority of whom come from out of town. Is the study talking about crime RATES, or the absolute number of crimes? Another point worth making is that people, most of the time, are inside their homes. Any event that brings them out of their homes into a public place is going to increase the number of crimes, especially minor ones like fistfights ("assaults") and turning over trash cans ("vandalism"). Finally, do we need an academic study to tell us that fistfights between home team fans and gloating visiting fans are more common than between happy home fans and losers who are slinking quietly out of town, or that disappointed fans kick over more garbage cans than happy ones?
Posted by: Greg at Jan 17, 2008 9:15:53 AM
Football games make us drink alcohol. Lot's of it. Alcool leads to crime.
Posted by: Joel W at Jan 17, 2008 9:42:36 AM
Football games make us drink alcohol. Lot's of it. Alcool leads to crime.
Posted by: Joel W at Jan 17, 2008 9:42:55 AM
Don't forget alcohol. Sports events are drinking events, and drunk people are more prone to assault, vandalism, and obviously DUIs. There may be a causal effect but not from anger.
Posted by: th at Jan 17, 2008 9:43:24 AM
Actually the conclusion is that they should show more violent movies after each game. Perhaps even show a violent movie on the large video screen right in the sports arena, as soon as the game ends. Maybe a short clip like a 10-minute car-chase scene is enough to create the desired effect. The fans can channel their aggression into the climactic scene and walk away happy. (Believe it or not, I'm not kidding).
Posted by: Hovie at Jan 17, 2008 10:42:03 AM
I agree with Hovie's point, and here's my version: Football fans will be divided into "winners" and "losers" after each game. The losers frequently feel that their team deserved to win, and their frustration turns to violence. (Even winners can be violent if they feel that winning has made them invulnerable/justified in dominating the world.) Violent movies, in contrast, almost always have victims and villains -- people who are watching are more likely to identify with the victims and regret the violence inflicted upon them. Hotel Rwanda, Alien, Kill Bill -- all of them are violent, but all of them have clear(er) definitions of right or wrong. Football fans have no such clarity (in many ways :)
Posted by: David Zetland at Jan 17, 2008 11:07:41 AM
Of course, the authors have already thought of the routine activities explanation advanced by Jason and Greg (p.4.):
"Some portion of the relationship between home games and offenses may be
mechanical in nature, due to the fact that home games often attract a temporary, but
substantial, influx of people from outside the host community. However, the results with
regard to upsets suggest that fans react to the outcome of games."
Posted by: LemmusLemmus at Jan 17, 2008 11:14:22 AM
On the other hand, what becomes of life if people are denied outlets for their love of rowdiness, and for their (apparently innate) drive to cheer for a team?
Have experiments been done on the long-term effects of taking away violent, crowd-stirring entertainments from populations? Seems to me that until this has been done, conclusion-reaching ought to be put on hold.
Posted by: Michael Blowhard at Jan 17, 2008 11:58:52 AM
His abstinence and education paper is also really interesting.
http://econ.cudenver.edu/home/workingpapers/Rees_WP_08-01.pdf
Posted by: jason voorhees at Jan 17, 2008 2:24:16 PM
So maybe Aristotle was right about catharsis. Pp. 19-20 of the paper and the comparison with movies certainly suggest that stories, plots, matter to people. See also Geertz's famous cockfighting essay, both on the meanings of matches and the question of well-matched versus unevenly matched opponents.
Posted by: Colin Danby at Jan 17, 2008 2:38:44 PM
Winners can cause just as much destruction as the losers. Just look at the number of field goal posts that are toppled every year. And if you want further proof, visit Morgantown, WV after a football game or UConn after a basketball game.
Posted by: bh at Jan 17, 2008 9:24:12 PM
Perhaps I am oversimplifying this, but this appears to be basic common sense and the law of averages. I would argue that similar percentages could be found in any town/city across the U.S where NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and/or NASCAR events are held. Moreover, any situation where the following variables are found would also result in the same statistics: 1) population influx 2) predominantly middle-aged men 3) competition and/or rivalry and 4) alcohol (mix and serve).
It’s hard to agree that college football “causes” crime and violence. It seems more plausible to argue that when large numbers of people gather to observe or participate in competitive-based activities where drugs and alcohol floe freely, you might see an increase in aggressive behavior (e.g. crime and violence)
And one last thought… When the population of a host town/city swells (due to an event), the surrounding towns/cities experience a population decrease. Can the same be said for the crime and violence statistics?
Posted by: Roy Funderburk at Jan 20, 2008 12:55:11 PM
Prevacid drug can give you up to 24 hours, day and night relief from heartburn associated with acid reflux disease. Prevacid can also help heal damage to the esophagus. Your results may vary. Order discount Prevacid pharmacy online
Generic Prilosec drug (Omeprazole) is used to treat various acid-related stomach and/or throat (esophagus) problems (e.g., GERD, ulcers, erosive esophagitis, or Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome). It works by blocking the production of acid in the stomach. When using this medication to treat certain ulcers, it may be prescribed along with certain antibiotics (e.g., amoxicillin, clarithromycin). Order discount generic Prilosec Omeprazole pharmacy online
Posted by: discount online medicines at May 11, 2008 10:20:38 AM
Welcome to our company which sells all kinds of ro zeny.
Posted by: ro zeny at Jan 1, 2009 11:47:48 PM
Tiffany Replica Jewelry/a>
Links of London Jewelry
Replica Links of London Jewelry
Links of London Replica Jewelry
Posted by: aion kina at Mar 18, 2009 3:02:13 AM
Nobody knows when the man is talking truth, when is talking nonsence
Posted by: velence at May 15, 2009 1:37:40 AM
Is it realistic?
Posted by: kate at May 15, 2009 1:38:19 AM
you should keep feeling as usual
Posted by: kate at May 15, 2009 1:39:30 AM
