Social connections are known to contribute greatly to people’s psychological and emotional well-being. In fact, difficulties socializing and bonding with others have been linked to various psychiatric conditions, including depression, social anxiety disorder (SAD), schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Oxytocin, sometimes referred to as the “love hormone,” is known to play a key role in empathy, affection, trust and other aspects of social bonding. Past studies found that delivering oxytocin into a patient’s body through the nose has little to moderate effect on people’s social-bonding experiences.
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have been assessing the potential clinical benefits of alternative, nonpharmacological interventions that prompt the body to naturally produce more oxytocin. In a recent paper, published in Translational Psychiatry, the team showed that attending live sports with others increased levels of endogenous oxytocin (i.e., oxytocin naturally produced inside the body) and boosted other physiological signals associated with social bonding.
“Our paper grew from a simple question: How much direct interaction do people need to feel connected?” Takashi Matsui, first author of the paper, told Medical Xpress. “As a judoka, I was inspired by the principles of ‘Seiryoku-Zenyo’—the best use of one’s physical and mental energy—and ‘Jita-Kyoei’—mutual welfare and benefit. Together, these principles frame sport as a means not only of personal development but also of fostering unity, empathy and mutual benefit.”
Monitoring heart rate and oxytocin during a live basketball game
Past psychological studies suggest that repeatedly being in close physical contact with others can promote the release of oxytocin inside the body. However, not all psychiatric patients are comfortable with body contact, and some may not have many opportunities to come into close contact with others.
Matsui and their colleagues previously observed that in-person esports that did not require physical contact could still increase some biological signatures of social bonding. Building on their earlier research, they set out to measure physiological signals linked with social bonding while people attended live basketball games.
“One of our earlier studies provided an important clue: During face-to-face competitive and cooperative esports without physical contact, we observed both endogenous oxytocin release and heart rate synchrony—the alignment of bodily responses between people,” said Matsui. “This led us to use TSUKUBA LIVE! to ask whether spectators could become connected hormonally, physiologically and socially simply by sharing attention and emotion, even without playing or directly interacting with one another.”
The researchers selected 60 spectators attending two collegiate basketball games at the University of Tsukuba. Before, during and after each game, they collected three different physiological measurements from the spectators.
First, they collected saliva samples to measure levels of oxytocin and cortisol inside the body. While oxytocin is associated with social bonding and human connection, high levels of cortisol are linked to stress, anxiety and physiological arousal.
The team also recorded the selected spectators’ heart rates using wearable sensors. Finally, they asked them to answer a few questions about their experience of the game, such as how much they were enjoying it, whether they planned to attend again and whether they felt a sense of unity with other spectators.
“This real-world design allowed us to examine how hormonal, cardiovascular and psychological responses unfolded together during a shared sporting experience,” explained Matsui. “We found that live sports spectatorship was accompanied by an oxytocin-linked pattern of heart rate synchrony associated with social connection.”
The researchers observed that oxytocin levels increased in spectators who had lower levels of the hormone before the game and remained elevated in those who had higher levels to begin with. In contrast, the participants’ cortisol levels decreased during the game, suggesting that attendees were less stressed.
“We also found that the spectators’ heart rate patterns became more synchronized,” said Matsui. “Higher oxytocin showed a modest positive association with stronger synchrony, and both were linked to greater enjoyment, unity, immersion and intention to attend a live game again.”
Live sports as social bonding events
The results of this study suggest that attending live sports events can foster social connection and bonding. While these events alone might not be enough to treat complex psychiatric conditions, they could potentially be accessible opportunities to improve patients’ overall well-being and relationships with others.
“We now want to move beyond asking whether sports spectatorship promotes bonding and determine for whom, under what circumstances and in what physiological state it is most likely to foster connection,” added Matsui.
“We are now examining the effects of match outcome, spectators’ previous experience playing the sport and the development of ‘social brain’ mechanisms across the lifespan. Our longer-term goal is to design viewing environments and social contexts that can more reliably bring out the bonding effects of shared sports experiences.”