Fandom and well-being

This chapter starts by describing how I became interested in conducting research to understand the contribution of sport fandom to the quality of an individual’s life, or well-being. Next, three types of well-being - physical, mental, and social well-being - are defined, and the social identity approach (Haslam et al. 2009) is introduced as my theoretical approach to connecting fandom with each type of well-being. This is followed by a description of the empirical methodologies I have used for my research projects, as well as a review of what prior work collectively tells us about the connection between fandom and well-being. This chapters ends by explaining the key outcomes of my research for the body of academic literature and professional practices and discussing the possible ways in which the potential of fandom can be leveraged by policymakers and sport practitioners to promote the quality of individual and collective lives.