| Abstract: | Tentative verification was obtained for the hypothesis that violence precipitates collective violence. Sixty-eight reports of sport-related “hostile outburts” were taken from the Toronto Globe And Mail, for the years 1963–1973. In three quarters of these incidents there were accounts of extraordinary violence-usually player assaults on opposing players-prior to the collective episodes. This finding is understandable social psychologically when the “precipitating” properties of violence are seen in the context of “hostile belief” and emotional arousal often present in spectator-oriented sports. |
