Surn7nary.-While previous work had focused on the manner in which identification wich a sports team influences the reactions of spectators, research had yet to identdy those factors with the greatest amount of influence on identification. This article reports on an exploratory study designed to fill this void by idendying the factors involved in the origination, continuation, and cessarion of sports-team identification. Responses indicated that a wide variety of factors were perceived by fans to be important in their identificarion. Specifically, the success of the team, geographical reasons, the playen, and aHiiative reasons were all quite important in the fans' identification.Although researchers have examined the effects of identification on spectators' behaviors (have neglected to examine the factors that influence identification. While research had documented that factors such as a preference for active pastimes, tendencies to be involved with sport as an athlete as well as a spectator, and higher socioeconomic status are related to sports viewing or attendance (Crossman, 1986;Gantz, 1981;Prisuta, 1979; Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, & Ellen, 1988), work had yet to specify variables playing the greatest roles in identification with a particular team. The current study was designed to fill this void. Given the exploratory nature of this research, no formal hypotheses were generated. Rather, the current work set out to examine the research question of what factors are involved in the identification of a specific sports team. Three aspects of identification were examined, the continuation, origination, and cessation of spectators' identification.
METHODUndergraduate psychology student volunteers (44 men, 47 women) participated for extra course credt. The subjects' mean age was 24.3 yr.After reading, signing, and returning an informed consent statement, subjects (tested in groups of 10 to 25) were asked to complete a five-page questionnaire packet. The first page asked students to list their currently fa-'This work was partially sup orted by a Murray State University Co~nmittee on Institutional