For a lot of people, sports have provided a way to relax and enjoy themselves. When doing so in a stadium or an arena, watching sports turns into more than mere entertainment.
This connection not only makes individuals feel better but also improves the mental and overall health of society by increasing productivity and reducing crime rates.
However, this existing scientific investigation recognizes that there is limited proof of how it does so. Further investigation was carried out by researchers in the following ways:
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The Existing Gap in Research
A group of scientists led by Associate Professor Shintaro Sato from the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Waseda University Japan has achieved remarkable achievement in this regard.
Prof. Sato together with Assistant Professor Keita Kinoshita (Nanyang Technological University) and Dr Kento Nakagawa (Waseda University’s Faculty of Human Sciences) used multiple methods to understand the link between sport viewing and well-being among the general population.
“The subjective nature of measurement procedures poses a significant challenge to well-being research in this regard which may result in biased findings.” Thus, according to Prof. Sato, “we concentrated on both subjective and objective indicators of well-being in our investigations. Their research was made available online on March 22, 2024, in Sports Management Review.
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First Study: Large-Scale Data Analysis
In their first study, they investigated large-scale publicly available data of about 20000 Japanese residents who like sports watching.
The results of this research confirmed that consistently high levels of reported well-being were observed in the people viewing sports regularly, which has been observed before.
However, limitations to deeper insight into the relationship between sports watching and well-being characterized this study.
Second Study: Online Survey on Sports Type
Another study comprising 208 participants, which was an online survey investigating if different types of sports affect human well-being differently through viewing them as suggested by the above research; in fact, it had no direct link due to its aim is finding out whether there was any association between watching sports and wellbeing in response to specific sporting activities.
Some videos depicting different sporting events were shown during the experiment and participants’ levels of happiness were measured both before and after watching them for some time.
Specifically, the enhanced well-being effect was much stronger when a popular widely supported baseball sport type was engaged than less known golf sports. This approach proved to be very effective in acquiring the desired results.
Third Study: Neuroimaging Analysis
The third and most innovative aspect of this research came with the felt need for neuroimaging. At this point, the team used brain imaging methods to examine how watching sports could change blood flow in the mind. The researchers conducted diverse multimodal MRI neuroimaging measurements on Fourteen healthy Japanese participants who were viewing sports clips at that time.
The results of this study revealed that watching sports activates reward circuits in the brain. These areas are associated with feelings of happiness or pleasure as recorded by the equipment. Another significant finding emerged from the structural image analysis.
Specifically, those who reported more frequent sports watching had greater gray matter volumes in specific areas known to be parts of reward circuits. These imply a possibility that prolonged exposure to sports viewing may incrementally modify brain structures.
“Both subjective and objective measures of well-being were found to be positively influenced by engaging in sports viewing. Through inducing changes in the structure of the brain’s reward system over time, it leads to long-term benefits for individuals. For those looking for overall improvement in their well-being through long-term intervention, they would benefit by watching regular sports, especially popular ones like baseball or football,” says Prof. Sato.
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Implications for Sports Management and Public Health
Therein lies the significance and theoretical contribution of this research on sports management literature. Most literature has focused on sports fans; however, this study takes into consideration a wider general population without relating them to old practices about sports. This will enhance public policy regarding health and sport management more effectively than any other existing body of knowledge. This research has highlighted another aspect of sports viewership which is associated with human wellbeing.
Conclusion
The research conducted by Prof. Sato and his team demonstrates the multidimensional advantages of watching sports. This research not only showcased the bonding between happiness achieved through entertainment sources like sports but also proved that watching sports has long-lasting positive effects on the human brain and overall well-being.
However, more research is required to further investigate the study by focusing more on people around the world.
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