The events that have taken place in our beautiful country over the past few days are just another indication of the potential, strength and possibilities that lie within all of us. We have been the subject of writings in almost all the world's media, while the frequency of the word "Croatia" as a search term on Google increased by as much as 10 to 15 times during the final matches of the World Cup. We will probably remember the social phenomenon that occurred on July 16, 2018, for the rest of our lives, and we simply cannot resist dedicating our new blog to it, and trying to explain it. So let's start in order:
Why can't we resist football?
The answer to this question is very simple – because we don't have the opportunity to do so. In the last few weeks, we have been constantly bombarded with football statuses and pictures on social lithuania whatsapp data media, shops that have decorated their interiors with a white and red pattern, cars on the roads with Croatian flags, people singing fan songs and walking around the cities in football jerseys, etc. Even if you don't like football, by God you have come to love it. ?
However, this is only a superficial reason. The World Cup resulted in us uniting as a nation, regardless of age, gender, education and interests, after being divided for a long time due to a series of negative events that we witnessed. The fans send out an enormous amount of pride to the world about the fact that they are Croatians. When we see them, of course we want to feel at least a fraction of that feeling of pride. It is simply bigger than ourselves.
Why do we fall under the influence of football?
The first reason for this is definitely social pressure – everyone is watching the World Cup, so obviously I have to too! Simply put, in recent weeks we have found ourselves in such an environment whose influence is difficult to resist, even for the strongest characters. We slowly identify with the group of fans, about whom we gradually begin to have better and better opinions and attitudes. Phrases such as “we won”, “we were better”, “we fans”, etc. begin to appear in our vocabulary. The level of testosterone starts to circulate in our bodies, which (in both sexes) has increased by 20%, which causes a feeling of euphoria. All this culminates in the moments when we start to compare our group with some other relevant groups over time. Then something that we psychologists call positive distinctiveness appears – we begin to see the advantage of our group, the small state of Croatia, compared to other world superpowers that we were not even close to at first.
How does this affect all of us? Social psychology has shown that this identification with a group and a good sports result in people having a more optimistic view of life and the future, a more positive self-image, feeling better, and approaching their jobs more willingly and with better quality. It has indeed been proven that good sports results have a long-term positive impact on our self-esteem.