Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Publication Title
Communication & Sport
First Page
428
Last Page
447
DOI
10.1177/2167479516636638
Additional Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479516636638
Abstract
Drawing on the literature on American nationalism and the social identity perspective, this study examines the effects of mediasport on nationalized attitudes, using both rhetorical and experimental approaches. First, a rhetorical analysis examined the nationalistic themes featured in the game promotional ad of the United States versus Ghana soccer match in World Cup 2014, linking these themes to the republicanism/liberalism paradox in American political thought. Using the social identity perspective, we predicted the effects of these themes on U.S. participants’ nationalized attitudes and tested our hypotheses using an experiment. Experimental findings indicate that exposure to nationalistic rhetoric indirectly increases uncritical patriotism, critical patriotism, and support of militarism attitudes via self-enhancement gratifications. Additionally, exposure to nationalistic rhetoric also indirectly influences uncritical patriotism via social uncertainty reduction gratifications. Our study demonstrates the utility of a mixed-method approach and points out directions for future research on the (re)construction of social identities through mediasport.
Rights
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Sage Journals in Communication & Sport on March 16, 2016, available online: https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479516636638.
Recommended Citation
Atwell Seate, Anita Atwell Seate; Ma, Rong; Iles, Irina; McCloskey, Thomas; and Parry-Giles, Shawn, "“This is who we are!” National identity construction and the 2014 FIFA World Cup" (2017). Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication. 192.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ccom_papers/192
