Need for Affiliation of College Football Fans: A Partial Least Squares (PLS) Path Modeling Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which the need for affiliation mediates the relationship between personality traits and the need for identification, particularly as it relates to fans of college football teams. The data are from 399 participants in an online survey. The results indicate that for the dependent variable identification, the effect of need for affiliation is significant. For the dependent variable of need for affiliation, extraversion, arousal, agreeability, and material needs are significant, while conscientiousness is partially supported. This study seeks to inform practitioners of the benefits from having highly identified/highly attached fans.