Soccer spectators’ moral functioning and aggressive tendencies in life and when watching soccer matches

We examined the relationship among watching soccer matches, moral functioning and aggression levels in 332 college students. Hypothesis-driven regression analyses revealed that the frequency of watching soccer matches was positively associated with low levels of moral behavior and high aggression levels. A mediation analysis also showed that moral behavior mediated the relationship between the frequency of watching soccer matches and aggression levels. Males manifested lower levels of moral functioning and higher hostility, physical and verbal aggression than females when watching a soccer match. Moreover, only males reported more verbal aggression and anger when watching soccer matches as compared to their general aggression levels.