Chinese football violence: An extended theory of planned behavior model to predict fans’ violent behavioral intentions

This study introduced deindividuation (DI) variables and constructed a mechanism model of football fans’ violent behavioral intentions (FVBI) in China based on theory of planned behavior (TPB). Specifically, taking Chinese football fans as the research subjects, we used a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the specific effects of subjective norms (SNs), perceived behavioral control, DI, and attitude (AT) on violent behavior intentions. Our results showed that SNs (β = -0.132, P < 0.01) had a significant negative predictive effect on FVBI, while perceived behavioral control (β = 0.297, P < 0.01), DI (β = 0.239, P < 0.01), and AT (β = 0.416, P < 0.01) had a significant positive predictive effect. However, we found that AT was the most important factor that predicted the FVBI and played a mediating role between SNs and FVBI, between perceived behavior control (PBC) and FVBI, and between DI and FVBI as well.