The need to belong is a fundamental human motivation. Individuals dedicate substantial time and effort into developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships with others, yet the structures and mechanisms through which individuals satisfy their need for belongingness has changed. Subjugated to the periphery of communal life are the geographically based communities and traditional forms of interest-based communities so popular among earlier generations (Putnam, 2000). In their place, modern individuals have created and joined new types of communities consistent with the wants and demands of the modern economy and lifestyle. Based on looseness and flexibility (Wuthnow, 1998), these modern communities are marked by fluidity of membership where individuals are free to enter and leave at their own peril. Yet, we know very little about the experiences of newcomers entering communities and the underlying processes through which newcomers join communities. Utilizing a longitudinal qualitative approach, the first goal of this dissertation was to develop a substantive theory explaining the underlying processes through which newcomers join communities, resulting in the creation of the Newcomer-to-Member model. In the second half of this dissertation, the focus shifts towards the impact of sport fanship as a mechanism to assist in the tumultuous newcomer adjustment process. Based on the experiences of 31 incoming college freshmen over a two-year period, four themes are presented that illustrate how sport fanship can positively affect the experiences of community newcomers: 1) Offering an early and flexible form of involvement; 2) Creating meaningful individual connections; 3) Promoting community ambassadors; and 4) Stimulating the identity negotiation process. Sport fanship is conceptualized in this dissertation not as a predictor of consumer behavior, but rather as a mechanism that can be specifically structured and designed to enhance the experiences and lives of individuals. The implications of the Newcomer-to-Member model and the four themes related to sport fanship are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for higher education, organizational socialization, and sport management. Moreover, practical implications for both higher education and sport management are also discussed. / text

The goal of the diploma thesis is to describe basic characteristics of mediate fanship, which we interprate as a specific form of game. In theoretical part we discuss typologies of fans, concept of flow and antropological and philosophical interpretations of game. We also present some aspects of modernity. Diploma thesis uses qualitative research and it combines three methods: archival research, observation and interviews. The aim of archival research done in the archive of the Czech television si to describe transformation of televison fanship in time. We discuss that this phenomenon is not a matter of the last twenty years and that it has its own history. Observations and interviews brings us to nowadays. We combine perspective of an observer with the data taken from interviews. Ten interviews were made during the research.

Do young people use expressed sports preferences to form impressions of others? Concentrating on previous research involving the framework of impression formation theory, this study was designed to explore the impact of expressed sports preferences on perceptions of peers. Respondents (n=332) were presented with a questionnaire depicting male and female peers in various sports tee-shirts to examine how well young people can judge others on the basis of very limited information. The findings reveal that the perceptions formed of peers are often mediated by the specific sport preference expressed by the target person. This study suggests that young people do make quick judgments of others based on sports preferences. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Master of Arts

I denna uppsats är det övergripande syftet att studera grupprocesser och identitetsskapande inom supporterkulturen. De frågeställningar studien avser att besvara utgörs av supporterskapets betydelse för individens identitetsskapande, skapandet och upprätthållandet av supportergruppen och supportergruppens eventuella påverkan på individens moraliska förhållningssätt. Studien tillämpar ett kvalitativt angreppssätt baserat på intervjuer och en kortare observation. Uppsatsens teoretiska ram består av Erving Goffmans och George Herbert Meads identitetsteorier, Randall Collins teori om ”Interaction ritual chains” och Howard S. Beckers stämplingsteori. Studien visar att supporterskapet är av stor betydelse för supportrarnas identitetsskapande, detta bland annat då engagemanget med supporterkulturen påbörjades redan i ung ålder och har följt de under deras uppväxt. Vidare visar studien att supportergrupper skapas genom ett gemensamt intresse och engagemang för en förening och att denna grupp upprätthålls via kollektiva ritualer och handlingar inom gruppen. Det grupptryck och sinnestillstånd som uppstår när dessa handlingar utförs påverkar sedan till viss del supportrarnas moraliska förhållningssätt, även om man inte helt kan lägga över det moraliska ansvaret för sina handlingar på gruppen. Utöver detta identifieras även ett nytt begrepp för att kunna förklara identitets- och grupprocesser, såväl som gruppens påverkan på individens moraliska förhållningssätt. Detta begrepp har vi valt att kalla ”nivå av kulturella traditioner”. / In this essay, the overall aim is to study group processes and identity formation within the fan culture. The questions the essay intends to answer consists of the importance of fanship for the individual's identity, the creation and maintenance of groups of fans, and fan groups possible impact on the individual's moral attitudes. The essay uses a qualitative approach based on interviews and a shorter observation. The essay´s theoretical framework consists of the identity theories of Erving Goffman and George Herbert Mead, Randall Collins's theory of "Interaction Ritual Chains" and Howard S. Becker's labeling theory. The essay shows that the fanship is of great importance for the fans identity making. One of the main reasons is that the involvement with the fan culture began at a young age, and that the fellowship of this culture since then has been of great importance in their upbringing. Furthermore, the essay shows that fan groups are created by a common interest and commitment for a team, and that this group is maintained through collective rituals and acts within the group. The peer pressure and state of mind that occurs when these acts are performed, is to some extent affecting the fans moral attitude, even if you cannot fully pass on the moral responsibility for your actions on the group. In addition to this the essay also identifies a new concept to explain identity- and group processes, as well as the group's influence on individual moral behavior. This term we have chosen to call ”level of cultural traditions”.

This doctoral thesis is about female rock musicians who are involved in two Swedish non-profit feminist music associations; Rockrebeller, which is situated in Uppsala and She´s Got the Beat in Umeå. The aim of the study is to analyze how the informants describe their lives as rock musicians and as active participants in these feminist music associations. The main issues are musicianship, identity, feminism and gender. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with ten informants – five from Umeå and five from Uppsala – and these interviews are complemented by a number of participatory observations. The focus of thesis is on the informants’ self-presentations: their stories and experiences. One central theme is the ways that the informants’ different identities are interlaced and closely knit together in different ways: as feminists, as musicians and as active participants in the associations. Two major themes in my thesis are music and politics and they can be regarded as two sides of the same coin; in order to make it easier for women to play rock music they have become involved in the associations, and this relationship is regarded as a form of political work. The informants have been influenced by punk and Riot Grrrls Movement – a feminist movement that is associated with punk bands and fanzines is sometimes seen as representative of a "third wave feminism". All the informants are members of rock bands, but many are also engaged in other projects, for instance in the role of a singer-songwriter, and these different identities as musicians are often seen as complementary to each other. Rock bands are generally considered to be fascinating but insecure experiences because bands tend to split up with time. Those who are also active musicians outside of the band (most often guitarists) usually regard their own individual identity as musicians as the most important thing; a safe harbor that is always there. Their ideological beliefs are for instance visible in a common vision of the ideal rock band as democratic, anti-hierarchic and where an equality of opportunity exists. Rock music is in some ways used as an expression for an alternative way of life, of rebellion, and is seen as politically subversive. One of the ambivalences of the source material is the kind of identity politics that the associations represent and whose purpose is to improve the gender equality in the field. There is a well-known dilemma involved in this practice; how is it possible to navigate from a marginalized, subordinated position, without using the method of categorizing that may increase the probability of reproducing their own marginalization? Their life as rock musicians is described as enjoyable rewarding, and as a means of expressing their cultural belonging and ideological beliefs, such as feminism. However, the overall picture highlights the pleasures of creating and making music, which serves as an explanation why they strive to make rock music more accessible for women. The descriptions of being in a band and performing on stage are varied and on the whole complex. The group dynamics of the band are portrayed as very meaningful but also trying at times, and playing in front of an audience is described as everything between ecstasy and a nerve-wrecking experience. However, there is an overall adaptation to the norms surrounding rock music; a sense that one has to adjust oneself in order to function as a rock musician. The informants´ statements generally emphasize gender, but from time to time they identify themselves with other male amateur rock musicians.