The rates for domestic violence incidents increase 10 percent when NFL games are on TV and even more so during large tournament games and the Super Bowl.
Football Sundays are a time for Americans to get together with friends and family and watch their favorite team. But one thing is not often talked about in regard to sports. Domestic violence.
Domestic violence events increase by roughly 10 percent when an NFL game is on TV -- a cold, heart-breaking fact.
This isn't just an American problem, though. In the United Kingdom, domestic violence reports rise 38 percent when England's football team loses and 26 percent when they win or draw.
Sporting events should obviously not be a cause for domestic abuse and violence, and men need to learn ways to healthily deal with the anger and aggression they feel while watching sports.
As a woman who watches sports, I understand the impulse to cheer for your team or be a little upset when they lose. What I don't understand is screaming at the TV, breaking things, and getting into physical fights with people -- especially with people you love.
So why do sports make men more violent or aggressive, and why is it primarily a male issue?
I understand saying this is a male-specific issue may seem unfair, so if you can find statistics and research that showcase how violent women can be because of a sporting event, feel free to send them my way (though a study published in the National Library of Medicine more or less states no such research exists).
But to answer my own question, I first needed to uncover why men are more prone to watch and participate in sports than women. Thankfully, there has been countless research done to determine this.
According to a National Library of Medicine study, biologists believe men are attracted to sports because the activities resemble the same sorts of movements and skills found in primitive hunting and warfare. Actions like stalking, chasing, and hitting targets with a projectile are all things that resemble how cavemen used to find food and protect themselves and are moves we see athletes do during games.
In the same study, the researcher discusses how men enjoy watching sports because it allows them to 'analyze the skills and shortcomings of potential opponents and allies.' Watching sports can also help men embody the characteristics and behaviors of successful athletes and avoid the behaviors of unsuccessful players.
Athletes are idolized by men, yet they themselves are not immune to the effects of this masculine view. In the last 25 years, 134 NFL players were arrested for domestic abuse. And so, if men adore these players, they might think this behavior is okay.
To the sports fans reading this and thinking, "Well, the players I watch wouldn't do that," Kobe Bryant was charged with sexual assault in 2003, Micheal Vick was found guilty of engaging in illegal dog fighting in 2007, Adrian Peterson was arrested in 2014 for abuse against his son, and Ray Rice and Greg Hardy were found guilty for assault against their significant others. Not even these well-known, successful players were innocent of violence.
Another factor that plays into men's desires to participate and be successful in sports is that doing so increases their "mating pool." Many researchers have described sports as a sort of mating ritual, with reproductive success being a driving force in athletes wanting to improve their game. Many men find a correlation between their status and their number of sexual conquests, so this theory seems entirely plausible.
"The American male's obsession with sports seems to suggest that the love affair is a natural expression of masculinity," Douglas Hartmann, associate professor of sociology at University of Minnesota, said.
"Toxic masculinity" has been a frequently used buzzword that seems to suggest a nontoxic, perfectly acceptable version of masculinity that exists outside the realm of violence and misogyny. The masculinity Hartmann was talking about, however, is the one that centers on a man's competitive drive and the fixation on his ego.
It should be no shock to anyone when I say that for generations masculinity has been centered on a man's physical strength with disregard for their emotional maturity, levels of empathy and, oftentimes, their intellect. So, it makes sense that some men's definition of masculinity is intertwined with his affinity for sports.
So, do sports make men more violent, or do men make sports more violent? Nina Passero answers this question in her research article by simply stating, "Research has shown that men who participate in organized sports exhibit more aggressive behaviors, in both athletic and nonathletic contexts, than those who do not."
This goes back to the idea of traditional masculinity, which is formed through both nature and nurture and centers around men's aggressive tendencies.
Doctor Ralf Wölfer, a researcher at Oxford University, conducted a study on the roots of men's aggression and narrowed it down to two theories:
The first theory is based on nature, while the second is based on nurture.
I want to be clear and make it known that I am aware of the millions of men out there who do not conform to the toxic and traditional ideals of masculinity and potentially just as many who are able to watch sports and not have an emotional and aggressive reaction to it. It all depends on their environments, the influences on their psyches, and the people in their lives who have told them what masculinity is supposed to look like.
This is not all to say that men who watch and participate in sports are inherently bad, but the research suggests they are more likely to be violent and prone to aggressive outbursts. I think it's important for men and women to acknowledge this, so we can move forward and try to remedy this issue.
NFL games being on the television should not be a reason for domestic violence incidents to increase, and before you say it's "not all men," it is enough for people to be worried.
Men who may be prone to this aggression that can lead to harming others must try and find more healthy coping mechanisms for themselves and take accountability if they notice their own aggressive patterns. Sports should be a fun pastime, not an excuse or outlet for violence and anger.