Why Rooting For Losers May Save Your Life

If you’re a sports fan, you want your team to win. You especially want your team to win the big games: championships, rivalry games, etc. Be careful what you wish for. Anew studyshows that big games with close scores are followed by a significant increase in traffic fatalities – but only for fans of the winning team.

Specifically, the researchers found that the number of traffic fatalities more than doubled following a nail-biter – but only in areas with a high concentration of winning fans (i.e., the hometown of the winning team and wherever the game was played).

这项研究评估交通fatalities following hundreds of games between 2001 and 2008, looking exclusively at college and professional games in football and basketball.

Correlation does not always imply causation, but it’s a pretty robust data set. The researchers, from NC State and the University of South Carolina, hypothesize that the spike in traffic fatalities is linked to alcohol and testosterone (always a popular combo at sporting events). Alcohol’s role in traffic fatalitiesis well known. The testosterone component, less so.

Previous research has shown that, during close games, players aren’t the only ones whose testosterone spikes –fans see their testosterone levels riseas well. When the game ends, losers slump in defeat. So do their testosterone levels. Winners jump up – and so dotheirtestosterone levels. Since testosterone is linked toincreases in aggressive behavior– and potentially, to aggressive driving – the researchers think the testosterone spike in winning fans may contribute to the increased number of traffic fatalities in areas where a lot of those fans can be found. The study is forthcoming from theJournal of Consumer Research.

It adds an interesting – and scary – element toMarch Madness. So, if your team wins, be extra-careful incrosstown traffic.