A Kick to Desire: National Teams’ Performance During the UEFA EURO 2024 Affected the Frequency With Which Europeans Experienced Sexual Events

Abstract

Major sporting events exert manifold influences on people’s intra- and interpersonal experiences. Preliminary findings suggest that they affect sexuality, but the evidence has been limited to population-level outcomes such as birth rates. Direct, individual-level evidence and research on underlying processes are missing. In this preregistered study, we investigated the relationship between the success of national men’s soccer teams during the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament and the frequency of sexual events in daily life, with match results serving as natural within-person, quasi-experimental manipulations. Participants from five European countries (N = 952, k = 3,627 reports) reported more cognitive, affective, and behavioral sexual events following their national teams’ wins (vs. losses). These effects were particularly pronounced among participants who identified more strongly as fans and were partly explained by higher well-being after wins. We discuss the far-reaching impact of sporting events on sexuality in daily life and future research directions.

Keywords

sporting events sexual experiences social identity well-being

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