"We won, We won the superbowl! Woo Woo"
"But you're not even on the team"
"So, I was there since the beginning. It's like I'm on the team"
How many of our friends have we seen go through this phenomena. There is just something about living vicariously off of someones successes that just feels great.This phenomena is called Birging-Basking In Reflective Glory. According to the article "The Third-person and First-person effects of sports fandom" by John S. Spinda states that Birging occurs when that they can share in the glory of someone else with whom they are in some way associated. In the article they did an experiment and found that students at several colleges with nationally ranked football teams had a tendency to wear school-related clothes after a victory by each of their respective teams.
Birging...It's something I have experienced first hand. I don't know when it started. Fight after fight I emerged the victor. I would walk back to school and see guys wearing the same kind of haircut as me and I would hear them referencing lines from Giga-man. "Did you hear, we beat that school and we beat this school" Where exactly did this we come from? Though I can't say I wasn't happy about it and soon others joined me in my journey to reach my idol. It was the beginning of the end...
I've always found it weird, when people refer to a sports team they support as "WE". What do you mean "we"? You like a team and that automatically makes you a part of it? I like Metallica, but I dont refer to them as "we", as if Im in the band. London
Thank you for reading! I can understand that individuals can invest emotionally enough in a team where "I" and "We" start to blur.
Also, I think there is a difference between sports teams and bands. When you're a fan of a sports team there is some reward involved if they do well, Bragging rights. We won the Superbowl or We beat your team which in turn makes me better than you.
However, when it comes to bands it's hard to relate to them on the same level. I feel that it's more of an idolization and that's why you see a distinction between yourself and Metallica. If my making sense?
Once again, thank you for taking the time to read.