The current investigation examined the interrelationships among overall sport team identification, specific dimensions of team identification, and behavioral intentions. Using an antecedents approach to guide predictions (Dabholkar, Shepherd, & Thorpe, 2000), a model was tested in which overall identification would mediate the relationship between specific dimensions of team identification and behavioral intentions. To test the hypothesized pattern of effects, participants completed a questionnaire packet assessing overall identification via the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (Wann & Branscombe, 1993), specific dimensions of identification assessed via the Team Identification Scale (Dimmock & Grove, 2006; Theodorakis, Dimmock, Wann, & Barlas, 2010), and four items assessing behavioral intentions. A series of regression analyses confirmed the predicted pattern of effects. Specifically, both overall identification and the specific dimensions of identification predicted behavioral loyalty and the dimensions predicted overall identification. However, when the dimensions and overall identification were simultaneously entered as predictors of behavioral loyalty, the results indicated that overall identification fully mediated the relationship between specific dimensions of identification and behavioral loyalty, as the beta scores of the dimensions were reduced to non-significant levels.
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