The home-choke hypothesis, also known as the home disadvantage, is about the idea of choking under pressure, especially when playing in front of a home audience. Baumeister and Steinhilber (1984) studied this phenomenon in sports like basketball and baseball finding that sometimes, teams playing at their home stadium or court, lost the advantage they usually have. This could be because the players feel more pressure to perform well when their fans expect them to win (Strausß, 2002).
One study showed that actors felt happier and less stressed when performing in front of a friendly audience, but surprisingly, they performed worse in those situations (Butler & Baumeister, 1998). Another study focused on ice hockey shootouts and found that the home team had an advantage when they needed to score to avoid losing, but they were at a disadvantage when they were about to win (McEwan et al., 2012).
Overall, the home-choke hypothesis suggests that in certain situations, playing at home might make some athletes or performers feel nervous, leading to a drop in their performance even though they have the support of their home crowd. However, it’s important to note that not all studies have fully supported this idea (Schlenker et al., 1995).
Baumeister, R. F., & Steinhilber, A. (1984). Paradoxical effects of supportive audiences on performance under pres- sure: The home field disadvantage in sports championships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 85 93.
Butler, J. L., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). The trouble with friendly faces. Skilled performance with a supportive audi- ence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1213 1230.
McEwan, D., Martin Ginis, K. A., & Bray, S. R. (2012). “With the Game on His Stick”: The home (dis)advantage in National Hockey League shootouts. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13, 578 581.
Schlenker, B. R., Philipps, S. T., Boniecki, K. A., & Schlenker, D. R. (1995). Championship pressures: Choking or triumphing in one’s own territory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 632 643.
Strausß, B. (2002). The impact of supportive sports spectators on performance in team sports. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 33, 372 390.
