A Theoretical Review and Association of System Justification and Sports Fan Identity to Doping by Athletes

Within sport management research, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, or activities known as doping, has predominantly been viewed from a preemptive perspective or from the viewpoint of the athletes themselves. Consequently, there appears to be a lack of attention on the auxiliary effects of the overarching sporting domain or the implications of doping by athletes on the fans who follow them. Accordingly, this composition reviews the literature on a prominent theory that may be relevant to this issue, that being: system justification theory. This paper also highlights and briefly examines how social identity theory may play a role in this relationship. In doing so, the current review attempts to both propound potential factors implicated within the effects of athlete doping on sports fans as well as differentiate normative tendencies (i.e., status quo biases) in the various sports domains. In closing, this review calls for and also suggests possible directions for future research on doping in linking these underlying psychological theories to the expansive field of sport management in fan behavior research.