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@article{208484,
        author = {N Anakshitha Reddy and Rahul Arora},
        title = {From Rivalry to Violence Understanding Sports Fan Aggression Through Social Learning Theory},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {4},
        pages = {1879-1885},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208484},
        abstract = {Sport has a diverse background it helps to unite people from different background to share their experiences, emotions and sense of achievement for max audience, supporting their favourite team is an enjoyable and important experience. However, the approach to show favouritism to their teams sometimes leads to aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse, threatening behaviour, physical fights, defacement, and other forms of violence have been reported in different sporting contexts. This paper investigates the fan-based aggression from the perspective of Social Learning Theory. Social learning theory states that people learn new behaviours, values, and attitudes by observing others. 
Elite teams notice threats from the crowd or from the audience which can be advantageous for another team. At this time, some factors such as alcohol, crowd abuse, controversial decisions, and the emotional instability of a match may increase the likelihood that learned aggressive responses will be shown. The paper tells that it must not be considered only the spectator violence but also a learned behaviour. Instead, it should be considered within the wider social environment in which fans learn, observe, imitate, and reinforce particular behaviours. Knowledge of these processes can assist sporting organizations in developing more effective strategies for preventing aggression and for fostering healthy forms of sporting rivalry.},
        keywords = {Sports psychology, Aggression, Spectator violence, Rivalry, Social learning theory.},
        month = {September},
        }