A new study from Ohio State Communication Prof. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick showed the social aspect of celebrating a victory for a winning team leads to a self-esteem boost, while sharing the pain with others for the losing team may protect fans from self-esteem drops.

Her study ispublished in Communication & Sport, and involved 174 students from the Ohio State and Michigan State universities and the Nov. 21, 2015, football game between the two schools.

(Courtesy Ohio State School of Communication)