Sorry, it was a pithy quote. It's not meant to fully encapsulate the results of the study, it just seemed relevant and likely to bring some pleasure to people.
Obviously, people are more complicated than can be fully captured in a single statement, but there is some truth there; look at how hostile people can get over sports teams, which are never going to affect people's access to food, shelter, medical care, etc, and which are still treated with life of death seriousness by their adherents, who largely differ in which location they happen to originate.