The relationship between competitive orientation and religious orientation

Previous research suggests that religious orientation relates to people's choice of activities and behaviors. Religious orientation has not been examined in relation to sport and competitive orientation. This study examined the relationship of religious orientation, along with athletic experience, college and gender, to competitive orientation in sport. Surveys were completed by male and female -athletes and athletes (N=308) from six private liberal arts colleges, three with strong religious affiliations and three with more secular orientations. Religious orientation was measured by six subscales of religious belief including extrinsic/ intrinsic, external/internal, orthodoxy, and interactional. Competitiveness was assessed by the Sport Orientation questionnaire with three subscales, competitiveness, win and goal orientation. Overall MANOVA and regression analyses suggested that religious orientation does relate to competitive orientation beyond the influence of athletic experience and gender, and may affect how one approaches and interprets their involvement in sport situations. Article: Religious orientation has been correlated with a wide range of psychological characteristics and behaviors including those related to prejudice (Hereck, 1987); political affiliation (Koller & Retzer, 1983); prosocial behaviors (Batson, 1976); educational persistence (Lenski, 1963); sexual altitudes (Wulf, et al., 1984) and criminal behaviors (Stark, Doyle & Kent, 1982). Although usually not the major influence, religious orientation is one factor that can affect personal conduct and attitudes toward a host of social and moral entities. Given the range of variables studied in conjunction with religion, sport is conspicuous by its absence. Its neglect is even more curious given the pervasiveness of religion, especially Christianity, in organized athletics at all levels (Deford, 1976; Hoffman, 1985). This study was an initial attempt to examine the relative contribution of religious orientation, along with athletic experience and gender, to competitive sport orientation. Of particular interest was the relationship between religious belief and competitive sport orientations of participants, with religious belief defined as adherence to traditional beliefs of the Christian religion. Previously, competitive sport orientation has been shown to vary as a function of gender and participation in competitive sport activities. Specifically, those participating in competitive sports activities consistently score higher on competitive orientation scales than those not participating in such activities (Gill & Deeter, 1988). Males scored higher than females on scales measuring competitiveness and win orientation, but not on goal orientation (Gill & Deeter, 1988). Therefore, we included gender, athletic experience and athletic status along with religious orientation in this study to see if the influence of religious orientation varied with gender, experience or status. The competitive sport ethic, as acted out in American sport, bears a curious and paradoxical relationship to Christian beliefs. On one hand, the Protestant ethic and the ideology of sport share a significant equivalence in that the original tenets of the Protestant ethic--success, hard work and self-discipline--are the most valued qualities of an athlete (Eitzen & Sage, 1986). On the other hand, the prominence of competition in sport especially the underlying notion of proving oneself superior to opponents or gaining recognition at another's expense seem blatantly to contradict the core tenets of Protestant Christianity which stress cooperation, sharing and mutual concern (see for example, Kohn, 1986). The tension this dual commitment creates among many athletes who claim allegiance to both sets of beliefs has been described by Hoffman (1986). This apparent conflict in values might be reconciled by clarifying the motivations underlying competition. It is generally regarded (although not well documented) that some people approach sport competitions as interpersonal encounters for determining self-worth while others view them as occasions for self-testing. Conflict in values is more likely to occur when the Christian athlete enters a contest for the express purpose of winning or defeating an opponent than when using the competitive context for assessing and improving his/her performance. A scale, recently developed and validated by Gill and Deeter (1988), appears helpful in distinguishing these motivations for sport achievement. The Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) identifies three separate, but related dimensions of sport achievement: Competitiveness, Win and Goal Orientations. High scores on Competitiveness indicate a desire to enter competitive sport situations, work hard for success, master skills and meet competitive challenges. The extent to which this attraction to competition is associated with a desire and a striving to win, or a commitment to attaining personal goals and standards in a competitive setting is reflected in the Win and Goal dimensions, respectively. Within the context of the present study, those who profess strong belief in the tenets of Christianity and who elect to participate in competitive sports should adopt a goal rather than a win orientation. Religious orientation is a complex construct that has spawned a number of diverse assessment instruments. In this study, we were principally interested in determining the strength of expression of belief in what is generally regarded as the core doctrine of American Protestantism. Although the Protestant Work Ethic is generally regarded as a secularized version of the Protestant doctrine, significant relationships have been established between measures of the Protestant Work Ethic and church attendance, religious belief (Ray, 1982), religious fundamentalism, and an antihedonistic outlook (Fumham & Lewis, 1986), suggesting that high scores on religious orthodoxy may also be associated with a strong competitive orientation to sports. For obvious reasons, it is important to determine the extent to which expressed religious beliefs genuinely reflect the underlying religious orientation of respondents. This can be determined by assessing the influence of external factors (family, friends, etc.) on religious beliefs relative to the influence of such internal factors as felt need for security, strength and direction in life (Batson & Ventis, 1982). Additionally, religious orientation may reflect an extrinsic mindset in which individuals appropriate religion for utilitarian purposes such as status, sociability and selfjustification as opposed to an intrinsic mindset in which individuals find their master motive in religion, internalize its precepts and follow it consistently in their lives (Allport & Ross, 1967). An intrinsic orientation to religion has been closely related to orthodox religious involvement including frequency of attendance at worship services and personal importance of religion (Hoge, 1972). Given a population of male and female athletes and nonathletes of varying religious orientations, what relationships might one expect to uncover? If there is a high correspondence between traditional Protestant beliefs and the ethic of hard-work, striving for success and attainment of personal goals, strong associations should be observed between doctrinal orthodoxy and competitive and goal orientations of the SOQ. Evidence suggesting a close relationship between religious belief and goal orientation was collected in an unpublished study which found that individuals of high religious belief placed greater emphasis on playing fairly and playing well relative to beating one's opponent than did individuals of lower religious belief (Holfman & Luxbacher, 1983). Because both the athletic and religious ethos ostensibly function to reinforce a competitive orientation, we expected a stronger relationship between these variables among athletes professing high religious doctrine and who hold to an intrinsic as opposed to extrinsic orientation. Conversely a high intrinsic religious orientation should be negatively related to a win orientation. However, because an extrinsic orientation to religion is anchored more in pragmatic than intellectual-spiritual considerations, strong goal orientations need not characterize individuals scoring high on the extrinsic variable. Conflicts over a win orientation that owe to an expressed belief in the Christian creed should not be problematic for respondents who have not internalized the credal tenets.