The development of Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing) and Cutting off Reflected Failure (CORFing) measures

Abstract

Over the past three decades, researchers have employed the Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRG)/Cutting off Reflected Failure (CORF) phenomenon to help illustrate the impression management processes of sport fans. However, a comprehensive empirical measure of the larger BIRGing and CORFing constructs has not been explored. This study highlights the development of self-report measures of BIRGing and CORFing behaviors related to sport fandom. National Football League (NFL) fans (N = 735) were recruited through NFL-related blogs and websites and completed an online questionnaire. Both BIRGing and CORFing behaviors were comprised of smaller subscales. The two BIRGing subscales were basking communication and communication disinhibition. Meanwhile, the four CORFing subscales were display avoidance, media avoidance, online team distancing, and communication suppression. Although the overall scales demonstrated internal consistency for both the BIRGing and CORFing construct, additional findings suggested that the four subscales are predicted by team identification and demographic factors in notably different ways. Therefore, it is implied that BIRGing and CORFing behaviors, as they have been liberally defined in extant research, may be collection of behaviors as opposed to a universal concept related to a sporting event outcome. Areas of future research and limitations are also addressed.