Brad Hampson, a 41-year-old pharmacist who lives in Chicago, is not the kind of sports fan who loses his temper when his team gets beaten. But the outcome of a game definitely can affect his mood.
Watching the Nationals beat the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field was "heartbreaking" for Hampson, a lifelong Cubs fan.
"I'm upset when they lose and happy when they win," said Hampson, who has traveled to almost every current major ballpark in the United States. Hampson loves all sports, but says baseball is his favorite.
"It's a pleasant diversion -- at least when they are winning."
Researchers have long been interested in studying the characteristics, habits and overall health of sports fans. They've studied alcohol consumption, testosterone levels, even cardiac arrest rates after a Super Bowl game.
It's actually not all bad. Indeed, the stereotype that sports fans are overweight, beer-drinking couch potatoes is inaccurate, said Daniel L. Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University in Kentucky and the author of "Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators."
"Sports fans are quite active physically, politically and socially," he said.
Scientists have found that being a sports fan can be good for your emotional, psychological and social health.
Fans who identify with a local team have higher self-esteem, are less lonely and are no more aggressive as a group than nonsports fans, according to Wann.
"Pretty much any way you look at it, the more you identify with a local team, the more psychologically healthy you tend to be," said Wann, who has studied sports fans for 25 years. "You have a built-in connection to others in your environment. If you live in San Francisco and you are a Giants fan, it's pretty easy to be connected to others."