The 6 Emotions of Sport
Like life, sport has its ups and downs but there is one key difference between the two
Aggression creates wars but it can also fuel sports.
Like it or not there are aggressive people in this world. Of course, not everyone is that way as many are very gentle, but some are and for them, they need something to take their aggression out on. Sure, they can fight but fighting is violence.
And violence usually ends up with a lot of hurt, pain, and sorrow.
But sport gives a place for aggressive people to perform and get their frustrations out in a controlled environment.
And unlike war, sports have rules.
But that’s not the only type of person that plays sport. There are many calm, considerate, kind, or curious individuals who play sports too and don’t understand those that are more aggressive. Yet, they may even play on the same teams as them. But they may also be thankful that an aggressive character is part of their lineup as they prepare to play against the opposing team.
For certain though, people like sports because of the variety of characters that play them.
Whether they have good or bad characters all personalities are welcome into a locker room. Once they are committed to playing their sport or concentrated on playing with their teammates they get respect from all around them and are welcome to attempt to win no matter what their natural traits.
Because everyone seeks to compete.
And we all love to watch the drama that occurs within the sport. Seeing different personalities pit their wits against one another is a welcome part of playing and watching sports. And testing yourself up against different types of people is a true test of character that sportspeople love to challenge themselves against.
Of course, the spectacle of the game itself is what attracts many to watch the sport but underneath it all it’s the people that the crowds are concerned about.
The sheer joy of watching a skilled sportsperson demonstrate their craft against an opponent is great to see. And after practicing such a skill there’s immense pleasure in playing it out against opponents too.
But behind it all when someone wins, it’s the immediate reactions of victory and defeat that produce an assortment of feelings for all who follow the sport.
Because sports stir emotions and emotions are what we humans love to experience.
And sports allow us to experience not only one emotion but often many throughout a sports performance.
Psychologist Paul Eckman identified the 6 basic emotions in the 1970s. He believed that most human feelings could be put under the category of happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, or anger.
And sport certainly has all of those emotions in abundance.
Because individual athletes and team players feel happy once they beat an opponent or win a game.
The feeling of winning is immediate happiness that has taken a long time to experience. For some sportspeople, it can take years to experience it and when the moment of victory arrives it’s quite normal to see hugs and kisses occurring even between grown men who wouldn’t consider each other friends in real life. Because the sweetness of victory comes from times of toil and labor that have been appreciated by many even if they don’t consider that other person on their team a close friend.
Of course on the opposite side of things, sadness is felt when losing happens in sport.
And that depth of sadness after losing can be felt by the athletes, the players, and all of the people that are involved in the performance.
Because no one competes in sport to experience a loss but everyone knows it’s a possibility when they sign up for it. And some losses are worse than others.
That’s when disgust rears its head.
If a team feels they should have won they may feel disgusted more than being sad after the game has finished too. If they have practiced a play for hours on end and then someone on the team messes up or drops a ball, disgust can flood the mind of many involved. And for an individual sports person, a refereeing decision can weigh heavily on their mind if they’ve come out on the wrong side of victory.
And then there is fear.
Because many people don’t believe they are the best at a sport and play it to compete, to try to improve, and are usually content if they win a game here and there.
But when they come up against an opponent that they feel is much better than them they can experience real emotions of fear before they play them. And this can result in a mismatch as one opponent steams roles through another team.
Yet sport can sometimes be kind to those that put in the commitment to try and win.
Because although there are favorites in every sport now and then the applecart can be disrupted and a team can upset the odds and beat the favorites to the title. That’s when players and supporters can be surprised and happy for a while to come.
On the opposite side of things though, sports can also make people feel angry.
Anger that matches have been postponed, that teams continually keep losing, that teams are not properly managed, that players never got the proper protection by referees in their sport and this resulted in injury and a host of other things that occur in sport.
And although sports stir emotions it brings people together to feel the rawness of them too.
Like life, sport has its ups and downs but the beauty is even if you experience the worst part of it there’s always time for a comeback the following year.
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