Sport teams and other organizations can boost their supporters’ social well-being through digital platforms and other initiatives that promote a strong group identity and feelings of trust that all members have their collective best interests at heart, according to a study led by recreation, sport and tourism professor Yuhei Inoue that included sport fans in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Professor Yuhei Inoue most recent study with his team shows that consumers’ identification with service organizations, such as sports teams, has a real impact on their social wellbeing.
Photo taken at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
(Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sport fans all know that rosy feeling of happiness when we hang out with others who support our favorite team. A new study conducted with sport consumers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom suggests that organizations that want to enhance their supporters’ health and well-being can achieve that by bolstering their social identification with the group.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign recreation, sport and tourism professors Yuhei Inoue and Mikihiro Sato say that social identification with organizations boosts our social well-being — our ability to form and sustain meaningful relationships — by giving us access to three important social and psychological resources: in-group trust, a sense of purpose and meaning, and perceived progroup norms — which are the beliefs that all group members are prioritizing our collective best interests.
Megan Huibregtse, Ph.D., is a first-year assistant professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, but she’s no stranger to the Midwest. Huibregtse obtained her bachelor’s in neuroscience and a Ph.D. in human performance from Indiana University, Bloomington.She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University before joining the AHS faculty this fall.
Megan Huibregtse (Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Talk about what drew you to the College of AHS. Why did you choose to come to Illinois?
Megan: I was looking for an environment where I could connect with a vibrant research community and work directly with undergraduate and graduate students. While my work spans multiple disciplines such as clinical neuroscience or psychiatry, traumatic brain injury is one of the most common neurological conditions (Maas et al., 2022 The Lancet Neurology), and there’s a real public health concern about acute and long-term neurobehavioral effects.
So, AHS’s mission of improving health and well-being across the lifespan is a great fit for my research program. Plus, the neuroimaging resources here are unparalleled, and I can’t wait to start using the 7 Tesla scanner.
(The University of Illinois and Carle Health co-own a 7 Tesla MRI scanner, which provides a huge step up in quality for brain imaging.)
You’ve described yourself as ‘obsessed with the brain.’ When and how did your fascination with neuroscience begin?
I was unlucky enough to get two concussions from playing volleyball when I was younger, and the second led to the discovery of a brain tumor in my left frontal lobe. It might have been a coincidence, but the tumor was right next to where I hit my head when I got the first concussion.
Fortunately, the surgery to remove it went well, and I’ve been fascinated by the brain and what happens in response to injury ever since. Having personally gone through many hours of magnetic resonance imaging, I learned what a powerful tool it is to non-invasively examine the brain.
Within the area of traumatic brain injury, you’ve already investigated a wide variety of topics, from sub-concussive head impacts in high school football to head trauma from intimate partner violence. How do you generally describe your research interests?
That’s right—I’ve been fascinated by various aspects of neurotrauma. In general, I would say that my interests revolve around comprehending how our experiences (brain injuries, traumatic events, and when they occur simultaneously) impact our brain health. I consider brain health in terms of both structural integrity and function.
What are your priorities as you’re getting started here at Illinois?
This year, I’m working on setting up my research program—recruiting graduate students and undergraduate research assistants, submitting my protocols to the Institutional Review Board, and getting acquainted with the excellent neuroimaging resources at the Beckman Institute.
How has your experience in Urbana-Champaign been so far? Is there anything you’d like your colleagues to know about you?
It’s been great so far! Having completed my degrees at another Big Ten school (Indiana), Urbana-Champaign feels familiar already. Outside of work, I love to cook and bake for my family and friends.
The Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor position in Sport Management.
The Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism (RST) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign invites applications for a nine-month (paid over 12 months), tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professor position in Sport Management. We seek candidates with a strong, well-defined research agenda in sport management who have the ability to teach sport management courses and other courses in the RST core. This position builds on the Department’s interdisciplinary strengths in community and organizational development; health and well-being; sustainable change; and inclusivity and accessibility. The start date for this position will be August 16, 2026.
To explore the full position details, please click ‘Learn More’ below.
