The traditional fight songs, face-paint and maybe an aggressive chant or statement regarding a fumbled ball are all a part of the spirit at major sporting events. But where does this motivation and desire to support a team of athletes come from? A recent study of University of Maryland students reveals that participating in high school sports and actively engaging in social/sports media promotes higher ratings of overall school spirit.
Journalism major and University of Maryland student, Patrick Quinn conducted a survey of 45 of his fellow students regarding activities and factors that promote school spirit for Maryland sporting events. Some factors included personal ties to athletes, current success of teams, knowledge of athletics and geographical ties to the state of Maryland.
Quinn’s results show participation in high school sports and social/sports media engagement has the strongest positive correlation regarding school spirit.
“Both are examples of people actively being involved and associating themselves with sports in their own time, unlike where you were born or whether the teams wining or losing”, said Quinn. “This active engagement is probably what leads to higher school spirit.”
The study used the website surveymonkey.com to create an 18 question survey targeted at undergraduates ranging from 18 to 23 years old. The survey was only accessible through invitation so Quinn could verify that all participants met the sample requirements.
The first question in the survey asked respondents to rate his or her level of school spirit on a scale from 1 to 7. Subsequent questions highlighted possible factors that could act as a driving force behind the respondent’s school spirit for Maryland athletics. Answers were then related back to the student’s original rating of their school spirit to determine a relationship.
Many factors revolved around the use of social and sports media, such as viewing sports online, watching/reading news and supporting Maryland athletics through Facebook or Twitter. All of these factors proved significant regarding high levels of school spirit.
Quinn believes that in terms of social capital, which is the resources that can be utilized through social interaction such as Twitter and Facebook, the university could use his results regarding social media and school spirit to boost attendance at games.
Results also indicated that as student’s progress through their undergraduate degree their school spirit rating decreases. Sophomores were found to have the highest ratings of school spirit, which then decreased for juniors and even lower for seniors.
Quinn said, “Sports are a great way to get freshman and sophomores involved. However, by juniors and senior year, people tend to have found their niche thus have other outlets in which to socialize.”
Quinn notes that his survey does suffer certain limitations, including a relatively small sample size and the lack of freshman year respondents.
“Overall the study was a success because I gained a better understanding on factors driving school spirit at the University of Maryland,” said Quinn. “ However many factors will influence one’s overall school spirit, thus its hard to a measure a single factor when it simply is just a part of total school spirit.”
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