Watching sport enhances well-being: evidence from a multi-method approach

Abstract

The extant literature supporting the relationship between watching sport and well-being often includes a specific sample population (e.g. sport fans), with the evidence highlighted by limited research approaches (i.e. subjectively measured well-being). It is imperative to assess the robustness of the evidence by implementing diverse methods to understand the contributions of sport-watching behavior to well-being. The current research aimed to provide evidence on the effects of watching sport on well-being in the general population through three studies that uniquely operationalized well-being. Study 1 examined the relationship between watching sport and well-being by analyzing publicly available open data with a large sample size (N = 20,000). Study 2 used an online survey experiment focusing on the general Japanese population (N = 208) to show the changes in well-being after watching videos of various sports. Study 3 conducted a neuro-imaging experiment (N = 14) using MRI to examine the effect of watching sport on brain activity and structure. Findings from the three studies indicated that watching sport was positively associated with participants’ self-reported well-being, as well as increased brain activity and the structural volume in the specific brain regions related to well-being. Furthermore, its positive effect was intensified when watching a popular sport (e.g. baseball) compared to watching a less popular sport (e.g. golf). The current research adds novel contributions to the literature, showing that watching sport can have a positive psychological and neurophysiological impact on human well-being.