Finding Well-Being in the Stands: High-Involvement Fandom and Subjective Well-Being Among Female Spectators in...

This study examines the psychological and social processes through which high-involvement sports fandom is associated with the subjective well-being of female spectators in South Korea's professional KBO baseball league. Utilizing a secondary qualitative analysis informed by grounded-theory coding procedures, we investigate the dynamic processes, interaction strategies, and sociopsychological factors through which female spectators experience high-involvement fandom and how this engagement relates to their well-being. Data originally collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with nine highly involved, long-term female KBO spectators for a prior study on fandom formation were reanalyzed through systematic coding, employing the frameworks of bottom-up, hedonic, social, and eudaimonic well-being as structural guides. Results reveal a multidimensional paradigm of well-being generation: immediate hedonic well-being appears to be associated with dramatic game narratives and collective crowd dynamics, and relationships expand to foster social well-being through regional belonging and community solidarity. These dimensions shape the phenomenon of "fandom as an emotional sanctuary," marked by collective identity integration and daily behavioral immersion. Despite threats to their well-being, fans employ active restoration strategies to re-engage. This pattern, observed within the bounded context of nine long-term KBO fans, points toward a possible pathway linking sustained fandom involvement to subjective well-being, characterized by emotional maturity and the assimilation of sports fandom into life's meaning. These findings offer exploratory theoretical insights into the feminization of sports fandom and suggest that sports consumption may be relevant for modern psychological and social well-being.