The club factor – footy culture revealed

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 4  30 April - 14 May 2007 ]

By Janine Sim-Jones

Key individuals can strongly influence how players behave.

Macho, sexist, homophobic, violent: these are just some of the stereotypes leveled at AFL footballers.

But new research by the University of Melbourne reveals that the labels often applied to the men who play Australian Rules at the highest level may not be justified.

Dr Dean Lusher and Associate Professor Garry Robins (School of Behavioural Science) and University of Ballarat colleague Dr Peter Kremer, have completed an in-depth study of social networks and men’s attitudes about masculinity, using players from four unnamed AFL clubs.

They found that players have a wide range of attitudes, but in some clubs certain views dominate.

Their research identifies prevailing informal cultures that are unique to each club – and shows how these cultures are built on the views of popular players or cliques who socialise together.

In all clubs, the most skilled and senior players have high status, but other attitudes also affect popularity.

The cultures identified include:

The Playboy Culture: In this club, popular players believe that being a man involves lots of sexual success with women. Most players in this club feel the idea of sexual success is the predominant view of other players.

Dr Lusher notes that the popular group feels that their own emphasis on sexual success is not shared by their teammates.

“This is a way of these men differentiating themselves from the ­others – of thinking ‘the others aren’t as successful a playboy as me’,” he says.

Football-Oriented Culture: In this club skill on the field, age and experience are most influential.

“None of the masculinity attitudes seen in the other three clubs seem to dominate,’’ Associate Professor Robins says. “Players have the same range of attitudes but they don’t greatly influence the social life of the club. This suggests that this club would have less trouble with players off the field.”

The Violent Club: The most popular players in this club endorse violence and aggression as masculine attitudes. “The perception in this club is that aggressive responses are valued,’’ says Dr Lusher. “Endorsing aggression may help a player move up the social hierarchy of this team.”

The Anti-Playboy Club: In this club, both popular players and others in the group reject the idea that sexual success indicates masculinity.

“Players with the lowest playboy attitudes are the most popular, and there is an overall perception that most others feel this way,” Dr Lusher says.

“But many of the popular group tend to be homophobic. Sexually conservative attitudes give status in this club.’’

Associate Professor Robins says the differences show that attempts to change attitudes with one-size-fits-all education programs may not be enough.

“The influence of key individuals in a social network can be very strong,” he says.

“It’s hard to change behaviours when they are reinforced by established social patterns.’’

Associate Professor Robins says many sports codes have conducted successful one-on-one mentoring programs for on-field performance and that these programs could also be extended off field.

Dr Lusher says many of the attitudes revealed by players are not spoken about at an official club level.

“While these issues remain in the informal social network of the club they are not spoken about – they may only come out if something goes wrong,” he says.

Dr Lusher will present the results of the study at an international social networks conference in Greece next month.