Philadelphia 76ers: The Psychology of the Typical Fan

The last few weeks I observed how different fans reacted to different happenings within the Philadelphia 76ers organization and that made me want to take a deeper look into why that is.

Psychology is the study of behavior and mind. Your psyche is the driving force behind what makes you tick, what infuriates you, what motivates you, and what inspires you on a daily basis. It is a very complex entity with many layers. We, as a fan base, have had a tumultuous last few years and have had our share of ups and downs, even in recent weeks.

I found it difficult at first when it came to attempting to evaluate the psychology of a Philadelphia 76ers fan. Why? Because you can’t group all of fans together. I believe there are four different categories in which each 76ers fan falls under, liken it to the different branches that make up our United States government. Let’s take look at the first category and one of the most prevalent of the four types 76ers fan.

Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed psychologist.

The Negadelphian

The hate is strong with this one. This was one of my favorite groups to analyze because they are incredibly consistent and never, ever waver. I had to sit back and ask myself — Why are they so angry all the time? They’ve been let down and had their hearts broken time and time again, more times than the causal 76ers fan. It’s not always the case, but this group typically consists of the more tenured members of our fan base. These fans are products of a city that suffered through a sports championship drought stretching from 1983 to 2008. This included many teams having been on the cusp of greatness multiple times, only adding insult to injury.

In regards to the 76ers, they’ve witnessed top 50 greats; the likes of Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson come and go without delivering championships. They feel as though they already know how this story is going to end, and to a certain extent you can’t blame them. Every negative situation is met with an “I told you so” or an alternative scenario they’ve concocted that would have been fool proof.

On the flip side, every positive situation is met with multiple scenarios depicting how our happiness is temporary and everything will soon all come crashing down, just as they predicted. The problem is, they can’t relinquish their fandom, they love the city and they love the 76ers. You’re stuck with their melodramatic moaning and groaning for years and years to come, deal with it.

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The Blind Optimist

This mindset is self explanatory, the inverse of the Negadelphian. Everything is puppy dogs, butterflies and rainbows with this category of 76ers fans. There is typically no factual causation backing their claims as to why this is our year to make the leap to the next level aside from “I just got a feeling”. Even in our darkest of hours these fans will always find a way to view the glass as half full. It’s rather easy to identify these fans through jargon such as “at least we have…”, “there’s always next…” and maybe the most common “well, look on the bright side.”

With the state the 76ers have been in over the last few years, one can’t blame a fan all too much if they want to blindly believe that every move this organization has made was the best move it could’ve made. They safeguard themselves of the hopelessness that can be ascertained via fandom by drowning themselves in unsubstantiated optimism. It works for them and they will continue to be front and center, year in and year out, making the best of a worst case scenario.

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The Realist

It’s really cut and dry here. This group is very pragmatic in their approach to every situation the 76ers present before them, whether it is good or bad. They are consistent and tend to be very objective when analyzing the state of the 76ers.

Emotions virtually never cloud their judgement, and you’ll practically never witness them fire off knee jerk reactions without taking a moment to collect their thoughts.These fans are few and far between as it’s nearly impossible to not have an emotional attachment to a player, coach, or general manager at one time or another, for emotional attachments are what make the majority of us fans in the first place. Appreciate these fans for bringing balance to the force.

The Sheep

This category of 76ers fans are what I like to call “sheep”. This group can identify with the Negadelphian, the Optimist and the Realist synchronously or asynchronously. The followers of the flock that make up a portion of the 76ers fan base. Whichever emotion is most prevalent in the moment is what guides their alliance. They can go from delusions of grandeur, to being rational and then to being consumed by rage all in a matter of minutes.

This category of 76ers fan tends to wear its fandom heart on its sleeve, which explains their volatile state and need to be pushed or pulled in one direction or another. Now, don’t get me wrong, these fans typically adore the 76ers just as much, if not more than the next fan. They just find a sense of comfort or relief when aligned alongside the majority.

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Just as all branches of the government are necessary for checks and balances, all 76ers fans of different psychological makeups are necessary in the same way. Every category of fan needs the other to function properly, balance is the key. What category do you fall under?

The Psychology of the 76ers Fan

By Darien May | Mar 3, 2017