THEY SAW A GAME A Japanese and American (Football) Field Study

Students at football games in the United States (the Rose Bowl) and Japan (the Flash Bowl) evaluated ingroup and out-group universities and students before and after the games. In both cultures, the university with the better academic reputation lost the game, whereas the university with the better football program won. European American students from both universities evaluated their in-groups more positively than out-groups on all measures before and after the game. In contrast, Japanese students’ ratings offered no evidence of intergroup bias, although Japanese students were as identified with their teams and the game’s outcome as were European American students. Instead, Japanese students’ ratings reflected the universities’ statuses in the larger society and the students’ statuses in the immediate situation.