New Delhi: Football fans who spend hours guzzling beer while watching the World Cup on television may be trying to compensate for not being man enough to play the game, says a new study.
Psychology researchers at the University of Sussex claim that men who are not confident of their sporting abilities are likely to turn to alcohol to try and prove their masculinity.
The study, based on interviews with 31 London youths in the age group of 18-21, investigates what they consider to be masculine behaviour and how this affects their health.
"What is really interesting is the idea of using one type of typically masculine behaviour to compensate for another. For example, men who are not confident in their sporting abilities may try and make up for this by drinking excessively," says lead researcher Richard de Visser.
The study comes amid concerns about the link between football and alcohol when the World Cup extravaganza kicks off in Germany on Friday.
Media reports in the UK have pointed out that beer consumption in local pubs is expected to rise by 40 per cent every time England plays and authorities are bracing themselves for an increase in drink-related problems.
Researchers note that understanding the desire to appear masculine - both physically and emotionally - may hold the key to reducing such unhealthy behaviour.
"If these findings are used effectively, they may be able to have an impact on the growing levels of anti-social behaviour such as binge-drinking, violence and illicit drug-use," says de Visser.
"Young men could be encouraged to develop a competence in a healthy typically male area (such as football) to resist social pressures to engage in unhealthy masculine behaviours," he says.
The study, sponsored by Britain's Economic and Social Research Council, is part of ongoing investigations into masculine identities and is due to be published in 'Psychology and Health' and the 'Journal of Health Psychology' later this year.
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