When World Cup Fans Transformed a City |
Collective effervescence is a healing experience of awe that restores one's sense of community and humanity.
Collective effervescence can be shared and enjoyed by watching World Cup games, especially in host cities.
Recognizing awe experiences through the Awe Experience Scale validates collective effervescence in action.
Bummed by cold, rainy weekends or sweltering heat waves, by never-ending bad news and a loss of faith in humanity, most Bostonians, as most Americans, have been stuck in drab survival mode. People are more guarded and edgy; they don’t easily smile or casually chat. A recent poll from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School reported that social trust has declined over the past five years.
But then came an amazing surprise: The Tartan Army of about 40,000-50,000 Scottish fans for the FIFA World Cup arrived in reveling droves—with bagpipes and wearing kilts. Bostonians hardly knew what hit them. How did these hilariously wild lads get away with putting traffic cones on our precious statues and drinking all our beer? Even the iconic statue of George Washington on his high horse got coned. “No Scotland, no party,” chanted the charming revelers—and the singing was contagious.
For Scotland's first World Cup appearance in 28 years, the Tartan Army stayed in Boston and Providence to watch the match against Haiti at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. On the day of the game on June 13th, the total stadium attendance of 64,000 was packed with a majority of Scottish fans who boldly sang their national anthem in unison—and the decibel level of 125 dB of their singing was the highest crowd noise ever recorded at a World Cup game.
On the days before this match and certainly after their victory, thousands of Scottish fans alongside fans of Iraq, Norway, Haiti, and Morocco filled the streets and bars of Boston and Providence, drawing locals into their jubilant antics and sharing the buzz, the whimsy, and friendliness. Bostonians got a huge, healing dose of something neuroscience calls “collective........