bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Trail of the “Turkey Trotters”: The Effect of Previous Sport Involvement and Attitudes on Commitment to and Skill in Running
Authors: Rees C. Roger , Andres Frederick F. , Howell Frank M.
Published: August 2016

This study tests the degree to which previous sport involvement (PSI) and attitudes toward PSI (APSI) influence present attitudes toward running (ARUN) and commitment to and skill in running. A questionnaire measuring these variables was mailed to a random sample of 210 participants drawn from a local 5-mile race; it was returned by 103 males (60%) and 38 females (90%). Commitment was operationalized as respondents’ training mileage per week, skill as their best race time divided by their best race distance, and PSI as their involvement in sport at the high school and/or college level. Attitudes toward PSI and running were assessed by a modification of the Kenyon ATPA Inventory. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed a victory component (PVICT, RVICT) and a fitness component (PFIT, RFIT) for each scale. The results showed that RVICT scores explained a significant amount of the variation in commitment to and skill in running. Noticeably absent was the effect of PSI upon skill and commitment, either directly or indirectly through attitudes toward running.
Work Routines in Newspaper Sports Departments and the Coverage of Women’s Sports
Authors: Theberge Nancy , Cronk Alan
Published: August 2016

The limited coverage of women in the sports media is not due simply to journalists’ bias against women’s sports. The exclusion is woven into news-workers’ beliefs about the contents of the news and their own methods of uncovering the news. Utilizing data from fieldwork in a U.S. newspaper, this article examines some features of the newspaper production process that read women out of the sports news. In casting the news net, journalists seek subjects that are both deemed newsworthy and able to provide reliable and accessible news material. The advantage enjoyed by men’s sports lies in the assumption of greater public interest and the greater resources of men’s commercial sports that guarantee preferred access to the media. Another practice that biases the sports news is standardization of the contents of the sports section. The range of contents is reduced by regularly covering only certain subjects, again mainly men’s sports. Newsworkers see this standardization as a practical necessity that enables them to do their job. They believe they are printing what their audiences wish to read. Their reliance upon bureaucratic news sources and the standardization of the production process mean that newsworkers routinely define sports news as news about men’s sports.
Social Order in a Leisure Setting: The Case of Recreational Swimmers in a Pool
Authors: Nixon Howard L.
Published: August 2016

Firsthand observations of recreational swimmers in a university pool are used to show how leisure participants, informally and largely nonverbally, structure and maintain their interaction in predictable and sociable patterns. The paper builds on these observations to show the kinds of social norms, statuses, and roles that constitute basic elements of social structure in the leisure setting of a pool, and it examines how regular leisure participants in such a setting maintain their informal social order through subtle or obvious, but usually nonverbal, means of social control. Analysis of the construction and maintenance of informal social order in a pool is presented here as a spring-board for enriching our understanding of patterns and processes of informal, nonverbal social organization and social control in other settings.
Highland Gatherings, Sport, and Social Class
Authors: Jarvie Grant
Published: August 2016

This paper takes as its central focus the development of the Scottish Highland Gatherings. Questioned is the extent to which the transformation and reproduction of this Highland tradition has paralleled broader transformations within the Highland social formation. Such an analysis certainly encompasses some of the most basic questions that might be asked about Scottish cultural identity and social structure.
Role Conflict of Teacher/Coaches in Small Colleges
Authors: Decker June I.
Published: August 2016

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of selected variables upon role conflict as experienced by teacher/coaches in small colleges and universities. Three types of role conflict—intersender, intrasender, and person-role—were considered. The effects of the gender of the teacher/coach, number of teams coached, type of sport coached, type of classes taught, and role preferred by the teacher/coach were examined. Survey data were collected from 735 randomly selected teacher/coaches from small colleges. The Role Conflict Scale was used to determine the amount of role conflict experienced by the subjects. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques were used to test the hypotheses. Results indicated that subjects who preferred the singular role of coaching experienced significantly more intersender and person-role conflict than those who preferred the dual role of teaching and coaching.
A Cross-Validation Study of Selected Performance Measures in Predicting Academic Success among Collegiate Athletes
Authors: Baumann Steven , Henschen Keith
Published: August 2016

In recent years, the academic standards of the collegiate student athlete have become a popular subject within the sociology of sport. In January 1983, the top competitive division of the NCAA voted to make more stringent the academic standards for participants in Division I intercollegiate sports. This was known as Proposal 48, and although the vote was 2 to 1 in favor of it, much criticism was also voiced. This study examines the relationship between the American College Testing Program (ACT) and actual grade point average (GPA) for 753 male and female athletes at the University of Utah during a 10-year period. A secondary purpose was to determine the predictive validity of a predicted GPA formula (PGPA) and high school grade point average (HSGPA) as estimates of actual GPA. Other purposes were to determine the correlation of ACT, PGPA, and HSGPA with regard to gender, race, and sport. Pearson product-moment correlations were utilized to establish relationships between ACT scores, PGPA, and HSGPA with actual GPA. A multiple correlation coefficient was computed and a regression equation was established. In addition, a cross-validation was performed on the existing data. Results indicated that an equation combining ACT and HSGPA is the best predictor for Caucasians, while HSGPA alone is the best predictor for non-Caucasians. Factors other than ACT scores appear to be better predictors of academic success for the student-athlete, thus casting doubt upon the validity of Proposal 48 for the NCAA.
Who’s In and Who Is Out? Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games
Authors: Purdue David E.J. , Howe P. David
Published: August 2016

This paper explores issues surrounding the inclusion of impaired bodies within the Paralympic Games. To achieve this aim we use empirical data gathered from semistructured interviews held with a range of Paralympic stakeholders. The background upon which this data are analyzed is a critical analysis of the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC’s) current vision and mission. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and capital (Bourdieu, 1997, 1984) provide the theoretical foundation upon which the analysis takes place. Discussion centers on Paralympic stakeholders’ articulations of issues surrounding individuals with cerebral palsy and/or severe physical impairments, emanating, in part, from a desire for aesthetically pleasing sporting performances. This paper gives Paralympic stakeholders a voice, upon which the IPC and broader sporting community may choose to reflect.
Sporting Homonationalisms: Sexual Exceptionalism, Queer Privilege, and the 21st Century International Lesbian and Gay Sport Movement
Authors: Davidson Judy
Published: August 2016

This paper takes up the challenge posed by McDonald (2006) among others to interrogate queer privilege in the analysis of sport and sexuality. Using Puar’s (2007) concepts of sexual exceptionalism and homonationalism, and Morgensen’s (2010) notion of settler homonationalism, I analyze specific examples from the 2002 and 2006 Gay Games, and 2006 Outgames to demonstrate how emancipatory sexual identity events have also reiterated white, Western, bourgeois privilege through aspects of their instantiations. The argument is not just that race has to be added to the analysis of the international lesbian and gay sport movement, it is that relying on a primary focus such as homophobia actually contributes to the reproduction of other forms of potent oppression. The paper ends with a reading of the 2010 Winter Olympics as a new context for homonationalism in the production of queer abjection.
The Mediasport Interpellation: Gender, Fanship, and Consumer Culture
Authors: Wenner Lawrence A.
Published: August 2016

This paper considers how mediated sport’s promotional culture works to hail us in interlinked gender, fan, and consumer identities. The paper draws on findings from a recent series of studies to illustrate how an emergent dirt theory of narrative ethics helps move beyond Althusser’s notion of ideological hailing to understand the dynamics of power and contraints at play in strategic sporting narratives that stereotype men and women and their roles as fan and consumer. The discussion focuses on the dynamics of narrative hegemony and the prospects and limits of social change in the ethics that undergird sport-related narratives in consumer culture.
The Rules of Engagement: Negotiating Painful and “Intimate” Touch in Mixed-Sex Martial Arts
Authors: Channon Alex , Jennings George
Published: August 2016

Within the sociology of sport and its related disciplines, martial arts have become increasingly popular sites for research on embodiment, gender and society. While much previous work in this area has focused upon the embodied experiences of either male or female practitioners, relatively few studies have directly addressed the social significance of mixed-sex practice. In this empirically-focused paper, we draw on qualitative, semistructured interviews with both male and female long-term exponents of various different martial arts disciplines in England, exploring experiences of intersex touch within training. Within a social-constructionist, feminist framework, we suggest that heteronormative, patriarchal and paternalistic gender structures can potentially be challenged through sustained mixed-sex practice. As such, this article contributes to work on transformative sporting bodies, martial arts and gender subversion.
Sport Identity Salience, Commitment, and the Involvement of Self in Role: Measurement Issues
Authors: Curry Timothy Jon , Weaner Jeffrey S.
Published: August 2016

The social psychological concept of identity has been recognized as an important approach to the study of role-related behavior, including sports behavior. Identity has been linked theoretically to the self-concept via the notion of a salience hierarchy, and the salience of an identity in turn has been shown to be associated with time spent in role and other measures of role performance. In this article we present some measurement procedures for the study of the sport identity, and we demonstrate the utility of these procedures by testing hypotheses derived from Stryker and Serpe’s (1982) research on religious role behavior. The sample used to test these hypotheses is a purposive sample of 220 male college students and athletes.
Denial of Power in Televised Women’s Sports
Authors: Duncan Margaret Carlisle , Hasbrook Cynthia A.
Published: August 2016

Televised texts of women’s sports are examined using the hermeneutical method. This study begins with the observation that women’s participation in team sports and certain “male-appropriate” individual sports is significantly lower than men’s participation in these sports. More striking yet is the media’s (particularly television’s) virtual disregard of women in team sports and certain individual sports. On the basis of these observations, the authors frame their research question: Do these imbalances constitute a symbolic denial of power for women? To answer this question, the authors investigate televised depictions of basketball, surfing, and marathon running. In each sport, the television narratives and visuals of the women’s competition are contrasted with those of the men’s competition. These depictions reveal a profound ambivalence in the reporting of the women’s sports, something that is not present in the reporting of the men’s sports. This ambivalence consists of conflicting messages about female athletes; positive portrayals of sportswomen are combined with subtly negative suggestions that trivialize or undercut the women’s efforts. Such trivialization is a way of denying power to women. The authors conclude by asserting that sport and leisure educators have an ethical obligation to redress the imbalance of power in the sporting world.
Developmental Effects of Athletic Participation among High School Girls
Authors: Melnick Merrill J. , Vanfossen Beth E. , Sabo Donald F.
Published: August 2016

This study examined the impact of athletic participation on the academic, social, and social–psychological development of high school girls. A panel design and multistage sampling were used to assess the effect of athletic participation on perceived popularity, sex-role attitudes, psychological well-being, sociability, delinquency, academic achievement, educational aspiration, and extracurricular involvement. Data were obtained from transcript records and survey questionnaires administered during the subjects’ sophomore (1980) and senior (1982) years. Multiple regression analysis revealed that athletic participation was strongly related to extracurricular involvement, modestly related to perceived popularity, but only slightly related to delinquency and educational aspiration. Athletic participation was not related to psychological well-being or sex-role attitudes.
Huizinga’s Legacy for Sports Studies
Authors: Henricks Thomas S.
Published: August 2016

Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Civilization has been recognized as a classic study of play. However, its implications for the study of sport have not been developed to their fullest extent. This paper reconsiders Huizinga’s model as an ideal type. It is argued that such a model unifies some work currently being done on sport and otherwise provides the basis for a far-reaching research agenda. In this spirit, a number of empirical questions stemming from Huizinga’s work are considered. This is followed by two tables that extend and systematize the model discussed above.
A Field Studies Project in a City Health and Leisure Club
Authors: Redican Bede , Hadley Debbie Sue
Published: August 2016

In recent publications of Featherstone (1982) and Orbach (1985) it is claimed that women are concerned with attaining and displaying the ideal outer body image, and with taking responsibility for maintaining their inner body health. This project examines the extent to which women involved in regular attendance at aerobic exercise sessions at a city health and leisure club perceived their participation in terms of these foreshadowed issues. Methodologically, it draws upon two techniques from the field-studies approach to social investigation. A participant observation program was carried out and a specific interview technique was used. Through the subsequent theory/data dialogue, the extent to which these foreshadowed issues and others emerged as significant is considered.
Career Problems and Retirement among Elite Athletes: The Female Tennis Professional
Authors: Allison Maria T. , Meyer Carrie
Published: August 2016

This investigation used qualitative techniques to identify and analyze the experiences of elite female tennis professionals and their perceptions of their competitive years and subsequent retirement from the sport. Through a system of networking and snowball sampling techniques (Babbie, 1986), 28 athletes who had played on the professional tennis circuit were contacted and asked to complete an extensive semistructured questionnaire; 20 completed questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire asked players to recount their earliest expectations and goals in competitive tennis, their experiences and perceptions during their most competitive years, and their reasons for and reactions to retirement from the tour. In general, results indicated that the athletes did not find disengagement from their competitive years traumatic, but rather found it as an opportunity to reestablish more traditional societal roles and lifestyles.
Sport Policy and the Welfare State: An Outline of the Canadian Case
Authors: Harvey Jean
Published: August 2016

This paper assesses the development of the welfare state as an important factor in state intervention in sport. In the first section, a set of theoretical assumptions for the analysis of the welfare state is developed. The second section presents a typology of tools of state intervention in sport inspired by welfare statism. In the last section an analysis of the Canadian case is presented. The paper indicates the broad impact of the welfare state on sport policies as well as demonstrating the need for more empirical studies.
Ways of Seeing Differently: Complexity and Contradiction in the Critical Project of Sport and Leisure Studies (Response to Rosemary Deem)
Authors: Sparks Robert
Published: August 2016

Although it is apparent that conceptual reconciliation between the critical frameworks of sport and leisure studies would enable more strategic and innovative work, this paper argues that the complexity of this undertaking should not be underestimated. Several shortcomings in Deem’s analysis of theoretical integration are traced out, and a basis is struck for critically analyzing work in leisure and sports studies generally. Finally, Deem’s conception of “radical pluralism” is reviewed and a way of proceeding is proposed.
Comparing Commitment to Sport and Religion at a Christian College
Authors: Curry Timothy Jon , Parr Robert
Published: August 2016

This research replicates a previous study that examined key components of Stryker’s identity theory as applied to the sport role. In addition, while the previous study examined components of the sport role just for male students at a large state university, this study includes 149 female and 199 male students at a small college and tests the model on both the sport and the religious identities. The instrument used is the Sport Identities Index. We find that the salience of sport is significantly different for males and females, while religious salience is not. We find further that both males and females show similar patterns of association between commitment, salience, role performance satisfaction, and time spent in role for sports. The relationships are not as consistent for religion. Implications of these findings suggest further refinements are needed in measuring and conceptualizing identity under conditions of high salience.
Ecology of Sports Violences: The Case of Israeli Soccer
Authors: Semyonov Moshe , Farbstein Mira
Published: August 2016

This research explores the extent to which aggregate violence among players and spectators of soccer teams is affected by the urban ecology and the sports ecology in which the teams operate. Sports violence is viewed here as characteristic of the social system. The analysis focuses on 297 soccer teams in Israel, and demonstrates that violence in sports is systematically related to both the team’s urban ecology and sports ecology. First, teams representing communities of subordinate ethnic minorities are more violent than others. Second, teams competing in higher level (professional) divisions and teams at either the bottom or top of their division (high levels of competition) are more violent. Third, teams characterized by violent players are more likely to have violent spectators. Finally, the causal relation between player and spectator violence is asymmetric: players affect spectators’ violence but not vice versa. These findings are discussed and interpreted in light of sociological theory.
Voluntarism and Commercialization in Basketball: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago
Authors: Mandle Jar R. , Mandle Joan D.
Published: August 2016

This article is intended to cast light on the general process of the commercialization of sport by examining that process in Trinidad and Tobago basketball. The authors explore the strengths and weaknesses of basketball’s dominant voluntary structure as well as those of the emerging commercialization of the sport. They analyze the tensions between voluntary and commercial basketball, and the relative advantages of each to different segments of the basketball community. They conclude that neither voluntarism nor commercialization is likely to be able to impose its dominance on the other in Trinidad and Tobago. Therefore, the future of basketball in that country will probably involve the coexistence of a voluntary structure alongside an incompletely developed commercial venture.
Salaries and Race/Ethnicity in Major League Baseball: The Pitching Component
Authors: Leonard Wilbert M.
Published: August 2016

This study refined and extended Christiano’s recent inquiry on race and salaries in major league baseball. Instead of merely dichotomizing the independent variable into black and white, the data were trichotomized into white, black, and Hispanic categories; pitchers, because they were not studied, provided the focal point. A model of salary for pitchers was both specified and tested. Unstandardized regression coefficients (after disaggregating the units of analysis by race/ethnicity) revealed several instances of salary inequities but small ns precluded systematic testing. Hence, the verdict is still out as to whether or not the salaries of baseball pitchers varying in race/ethnicity are consistently different while holding other theoretically relevant variables constant.
A Feminist Analysis of Responses to Sports Violence: Media Coverage of the 1987 World Junior Hockey Championship
Authors: Theberge Nancy
Published: August 2016

This paper analyzes media accounts of a dramatic and highly publicized incident of sport violence. In a game between the Canadian and Soviet teams at the 1987 World Junior Hockey Championship, a fight broke out that escalated into a brawl involving all members of both teams. After some 20 minutes of fighting, the game was declared over and both teams were suspended from the tournament. The analysis shows that newspaper accounts framed the incident primarily as a technical failing that could have been prevented if some individuals had acted responsibly. Interpretations that located the incident in the culture and organization of the sport assumed the status of secondary accounts. The dominance of the primary definition meant that a critique of the social basis of violence in sport never received a full airing. More significantly, the opportunity to initiate fundamental change in one of the cultural bases of hegemonic masculinity was lost.
The De-Athleticization of Women: The Naming and Gender Marking of Collegiate Sport Teams
Authors: Eitzen D. Stanley , Zinn Maxine Baca
Published: August 2016

American colleges and universities use nicknames, colors, logos, and mascots as identifying and unifying symbols, especially concerning their athletic teams. This paper examines the dark side of these solidarity symbols by reporting the incidence and patterns found in the naming of collegiate men’s and women’s athletic teams. The data from 1,185 four-year schools reveal that more than half of American colleges and universities employ names, mascots, and/or logos that demean and derogate women’s teams. There are no significant differences in naming patterns by type of school (public, independent, or religious), but region is significant, with Southern schools more likely to use sexist names than schools elsewhere. The various sexist naming practices contribute to the maintenance of male dominance within college athletics by defining women athletes and women’s athletic programs as second class and trivial.
Understanding Attrition in Female Competitive Gymnastics: Applying Social Exchange Theory
Authors: Johns David P. , Lindner Koenraad J. , Wolko Karen
Published: August 2016

Two components of Gould’s (1987) model for attrition in youth sport appear to lend themselves to sociological analysis and were adopted as theoretical concepts of social exchange theory (Homans, 1961). The constructs were tested and the role of injury was assessed through a questionnaire completed by 76 former female competitive club gymnasts and through semistructured interviews with 10 of these dropouts. Three major findings resulted, with only partial support for the model. The former gymnasts appeared to have a positive perception of their competence as athletes and indicated that the withdrawal had provided them with the desired time for the pursuit of other leisure activities such as hobbies, being with friends and, for the older dropouts, shopping. Injury, even though it was the second most frequent reason for withdrawal, was not seen as a primary cause. The subsumation of achievement and competence as components of social exchange theory provided a plausible framework for the interpretation of the data which demonstrated that the attraction of alternative status cultures was the strongest factor underlying withdrawal.
Physical Activity and Psychological Well-Being: Testing Alternative Sociological Interpretations
Authors: McTeer William , Curtis James E.
Published: August 2016

This study examines the relationship between physical activity in sport and feelings of well-being, testing alternative interpretations of the relationship between these two variables. It was expected that there would be positive relationships between physical activity on the one hand and physical fitness, feelings of well-being, social interaction in the sport and exercise environment, and socioeconomic status on the other hand. It was also expected that physical fitness, social interaction, and socioeconomic status would be positively related to psychological well-being. Further, it was expected that any positive zero-order relationship of physical activity and well-being would be at least in part a result of the conjoint effects of the other variables. The analyses were conducted separately for the male and female subsamples of a large survey study of Canadian adults. The results, after controls, show a modest positive relationship of physical activity and well-being for males but no such relationship for females. The predicted independent effects of the control factors obtained for both males and females. Interpretations of the results are discussed.
From Quarantine to Cure: The New Phase of the Struggle against Apartheid Sport
Authors: Kidd Bruce
Published: August 2016

During the last 2 years the campaign against apartheid sport has taken a new turn, shifting from the blanket boycott of “no normal sport in an abnormal society” to a more carefully nuanced “two-track” strategy, which attempts to strengthen nonracial sport in South Africa while maintaining the international quarantine of proapartheid establishment sport. These efforts are being mounted within the highly fluid dynamic of a society-wide assault on the structures of racist domination. This paper examines ongoing changes in South African sport, the new strategy and organizations developed by the liberation movement in response to the changes, and the promise and problems of the future. It is argued that the antiapartheid campaign provides an important example of effective human intervention in the sphere of modem sport.
Sport and Culture as Contested Terrain: Americanization in the Caribbean
Authors: Klein Alan M.
Published: August 2016

In looking at the “Americanization” of sport in other societies, we are essentially looking at a version of cultural colonialism. Sport, as a segment of popular culture, is certainly an effective form of promoting cultural hegemony. However, this essay argues for the use of cultural resistance as an opposing notion. Based on the author’s study of Dominican baseball, the picture of a tension between hegemonic and resistant cultural forces is summarized and offered as a model to other sports researchers. The Dominican study examined the structural properties of major league baseball’s domination of the sport in the Caribbean. Resistance to major league baseball was not structurally apparent and required looking at more subtle indices. Fans’ preferences for symbols, content analysis of the sports pages in Santo Domingo, and examples of concrete behavior were looked at. Other researchers may find different indices more appropriate, but the use of sport related phenomena are felt to be valuable sources.
Withdrawal from Sport and Schlossberg’s Model of Transitions
Authors: Swain Derek A.
Published: August 2016

The present study involved three in-depth interviews with 10 informants who had voluntarily withdrawn from hockey, horse racing, football, and racquet-ball. The personal histories of the informants were examined for diversity and commonality of experience. A synthesized description of career change experience was written as a general story, identifying a sequence of experiential units that reflect the shifts in focus within the common experience. The general story indicated that withdrawal from sport was not simply an event but a process that began soon after the athletes became engaged in their career. This study supports and extends a model proposed by Schlossberg (1984) which attempts to account for diversity in the experience of transitions. The model is considered helpful in developing an understanding of the process of a transitional experience such as retirement from sport, considering the context in which the experience takes place, the meaning it has for the individual, and how it changes over time.
Sociology of Nostalgia: Sport Halls of Fame and Museums in America
Authors: Snyder Eldon E.
Published: August 2016

Nostalgia is an important emotion in society that also has significance for the analysis of sport. Two types of nostalgia are discussed: collective and private nostalgia. The data for this paper were qualitative and collected at sport halls of fame, museums, and archives. Data collection procedures included people’s responses and reactions to the displays, notes of people’s conversations, analysis of sound tracks associated with the displays, photographs, and printed material from the halls of fame and museums. Nostalgia is defined in terms of the remembrance of the past that is imbued with positive feelings such as pleasure, joy, satisfaction, and goodness. These feelings may also be mixed with feelings of sadness. Some implications of nostalgia for the meanings associated with sport are considered.
Positive Deviance among Athletes: The Implications of Overconformity to the Sport Ethic
Authors: Hughes Robert , Coakley Jay
Published: August 2016

The purpose of this paper is to develop a working definition of positive deviance and use the definition in an analysis of behavior among athletes. It is argued that much deviance among athletes involves excessive overconformity to the norms and values embodied in sport itself. When athletes use the “sport ethic”—which emphasizes sacrifice for The Game, seeking distinction, taking risks, and challenging limits—as an exclusive guide for their behavior, sport and sport participation become especially vulnerable to corruption. Although the sport ethic emphasizes positive norms, the ethic itself becomes the vehicle for transforming behaviors that conform to these positive norms into deviant behaviors that are prohibited and negatively sanctioned within society and within sport organizations themselves. Living in conformity to the sport ethic is likely to set one apart as a “real athlete,” but it creates a clear-cut vulnerability to several kinds of deviant behavior. This presents unique problems of social control within sport. The use of performance enhancing drugs in sport is identified as a case in point, and an approach to controlling this form of positive deviance is discussed.
Efficiency and Power in Professional Baseball Players’ Employment Contracts
Authors: Wilson John
Published: August 2016

The restrictive covenants contained in the professional baseball player’s standard contract can be justified on grounds of being the most efficient solution to the problem of transaction costs in an industry where the difficulty of selecting and managing talent is acute. Contract law legitimates these restrictive covenants. Closer scrutiny of the history and sociopolitical context of the employment relationship in baseball underlines the role of power differentials in determining the parameters within which transacting for labor takes place. Not only the reserve clause but also the negative covenant in the player’s contract has been important in providing the conditions for the efficient trading of players.
The Underdog Concept in Sport
Authors: Frazier Jimmy A. , Snyder Eldon E.
Published: August 2016

The tension and excitement of competitive sport is created by the indeterminacy of the contest that is based on an approximate equity between the contestants. Yet players and teams vary in competence and prestige, and those with less competence are frequently labeled as the underdog. While winning is valued, cross-cutting values often create sentiments for the underdog, that is, the desire for the underdog to overcome the inferior status and upset the favored opponent. Social support for the underdog reflects a utilitarian perspective that helps maintain an emotional interest in a contest; additionally, underdogs receive support from the social value of equity. At a microlevel, the underdog status is often used to increase the level of motivation and performance. Data gathered from university students are used to support the positions taken in the paper.
Fixing the Boundaries of Physical Gender: Side Effects of Anti-Drug Campaigns in Athletics
Authors: Davis Laurel R. , Delano Linda C.
Published: August 2016

Over 40 anti-drug campaign media texts, including posters, videotapes, and brochures, served as data for this study. These texts were systematically analyzed and many prevalent themes were identified and categorized. Several themes are highlighted, focusing on assumptions and interpretations that the texts encourage readers to make. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how many of the anti-drug media campaigns, particularly those concerned with steroids, are problematic because they encourage readers to assume that bodies naturally fit into unambiguous bipolar categories of gender, and that steroids are artificial substances that disrupt this natural gender dichotomization. The assumptions that bodies are purely natural and drugs are artificial substances that disrupt natural bodies are also discussed because they are interconnected with and help to legitimate the assumption of physical gender dichotomization. These media texts are examined in the light of gender relations, wherein the embodiment of particular forms of gender is seen as crucial to the maintenance of the present gender order.
The International Olympic Committee: Tragedy, Farce, and Hypocrisy
Authors: Zakus Dwight H.
Published: August 2016

Many IOC actions have led to results that could be described as tragedy and farce. By comparing the presidency of Pierre de Coubertin with that of Avery Brundage, and comparing the decisions made in the denial of Jim Thorpe’s victories with the suspension of Karl Schranz, it is possible to see examples of tragedy and farce in the history of the Olympic movement. Further, it becomes possible to see how some of these actions and decisions have become hypocritical. The notion of hypocrisy is contained in Hoberman’s idea of “amoral universalism.” Several times the IOC has had to reverse its decisions regarding athletes. These decisions have resulted from hypocritical actions of the IOC in its attempt to maintain its version of Olympism as the guiding philosophy of the Olympic movement. The recent events surrounding Ben Johnson exemplify how the “amoral universalism,” and consequently the hypocrisy inherent in the Olympic movement, continue to affect the direct producers of Olympic performances.
Science, Knowledge, and Sport Psychology
Authors: Martens Rainer
Published: August 2016

Two sport psychologies have emerged—academic sport psychology and practicing sport psychology—which presently are on diverging courses because of an unjustified belief in orthodox science as the primary source of knowledge. To support this contention, the basic assumptions of orthodox science are examined, with the doctrine of objectivity singled out as fallacious and especially harmful in that it attempts to remove the person from the process of knowing. Polanyi’s (1958) heuristic philosophy of knowledge, which places humans in the center of the process of knowing, is recommended as an alternative approach for the study of human behavior. This alternative approach reveals the inadequacy of the laboratory experiment which has been invented primarily to pursue the doctrine of objectivity. Next, the Degrees of Knowledge theory is proposed as an alternative way to view the reliability of knowledge. This view, within the heuristic paradigm, places great significance on experiential knowledge. Recommendations for an improved science of human behavior emphasizes the idiographic approach, introspective methods, and field studies. Also, recommendations are made for a more progressive approach to applied research, and the significance of knowledge synthesis from applied research. The two sport psychologies will converge when orthodox science and the doctrine of objectivity are replaced with the heuristic paradigm and its emphasis on experiential knowledge.
Sport Psychology at a Ski Academy: Teaching Mental Skills to Young Athletes
Authors: Hellstedt Jon C.
Published: August 2016

This paper describes a sport psychology program conducted at a ski academy for a group of 43 competitive skiers in grades 8-12. The program’s effectiveness is discussed using evaluations from participants and coaches. The positive results of the evaluations and a drop in scores on the Sport Competition Anxiety Test indicates the various components of the program were helpful in developing skills in sport and in the athletes’ lives in general. Implications for future programs of this type are discussed, as is the role of the sport psychologist in this type of setting.
Job Responsibilities and Backgrounds of NCAA Division I Athletic Advisors and Counselors
Authors: Brooks Dana D. , Etzel Edward F. , Ostrow Andrew C.
Published: August 2016

A national survey of the job responsibilities and educational backgrounds of athletic advisors and counselors representing NCAA Division I institutions was conducted. Of the 274 counselors contacted, 134 returned completed questionnaires, representing a 49% return rate. Results of the survey indicated that the majority of advisors and counselors were male, held a master’s degree, and were former athletes in revenue-producing sports. They were employed primarily by athletic departments and provided counseling services, for the most part, to male college athletes involved in revenue-producing sports. Counseling services for college athletes focused primarily on academic matters, with considerably less attention devoted to personal-social or vocational counseling. The implications of these findings toward the provision of future counseling services for college athletes are discussed.
A Performance Enhancement Program for a College Football Team: One Incredible Season
Authors: Fenker Richard M. , Lambiotte Judith G.
Published: August 2016

This article presents a case study describing the development and implementation of a performance enhancement program for a major college football team. The program used imagery training techniques in conjunction with a process-oriented approach to performance to help the team achieve its best record in 20 years. Data on the individual players’ game grades, their evaluation of the enhancement program, and their strategy for reaching an optimal mental state were collected. In all, 86% of the starters evaluated the program’s overall value to the team as being important or very significant. Multiple regression analyses were used to predict starters’ game grades and consistency ratings from the athletes’ preparation and performance (readiness) strategies. Details of the imagery training procedures and other enhancement techniques are included.
Sport Psychology Service Delivery: Implementation Within the University Community
Authors: Petruzzello Steven J. , Landers Daniel M. , Linder Darwyn E. , Robinson Don R.
Published: August 2016

In this paper we outline a sport psychology service delivery program that has been implemented at Arizona State University. We feel this is a unique program in that it is housed within, and funded by, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The program has four major components: (a) an undergraduate psychological skills course, (b) psychological skills training programs for athletic teams and small groups of athletes, (c) individual psychological consultation for athletes, and (d) psychological skills seminars and consultations with coaches. Each of these components is explained in detail. In addition, information is presented regarding the future directions for the program.
Stress, Emotion, and Performance in Elite Slalom Canoeists
Authors: Males Jonathan R. , Kerr John H.
Published: August 2016

This paper examines the relationship between precompetitive affect and performance, using elements of reversal theory (Apter, 1982): a conceptual framework that incorporates a full range of pleasant and unpleasant moods. Nine elite male slalom canoeists completed questionnaires prior to each event of a season that included the world championships. Results were analyzed using a time-series model to make comparisons of each subject’s best and worst performance of the season. Predicted variations in precompetitive levels of pleasant and unpleasant mood did not occur, despite variations in subsequent performances. As predicted, good performances were preceded by low discrepancies between felt and preferred arousal levels, but there was no support for the hypothesis that a large discrepancy between perceived stress and coping efforts would precede a poor performance.
Psychological Aspects of Athletic Injuries as Perceived by Athletic Trainers
Authors: Larson Gerald A. , Starkey Chad , Zaichkowsky Leonard D.
Published: August 2016

This study investigated the perceptions of certified athletic trainers concerning their attitudes, beliefs, and application of a variety of psychological strategies and techniques used in the treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. The Athletic Training and Sport Psychology Questionnaire (ATSPQ) was adapted from instruments developed by Wiese, Weiss, and Yukelson (1991) and Brewer, Van Raalte, and Linder (1991). The ATSPQ, a letter of introduction, and a self-addressed stamped envelope were distributed to 1,000 certified athletic trainers randomly selected from the membership database maintained by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). Only 482 (48.2%) of these questionnaires returned were usable. 47% of athletic trainers who responded believe that every injured athlete suffers psychological trauma. 24% reported that they have referred an athlete for counseling for situations related to their injury, and 25% reported that they have a sport psychologist as a member of their sports medicine team. This study concludes that future education of athletic trainers should address the psychological aspects of injury treatment as well as the development of a sport psychology referral network.
Ethnicity, Gender, and Experience Effects on Attributional Dimensions
Authors: Morgan L. Kay , Griffin Joy , Heyward Vivian H.
Published: August 2016

In sport psychology, there is a need for ethnic and gender attribution research (Allison, 1988; Duda & Allison, 1989, 1990; Gill, 1993). This study examined effects of (a) ethnicity (African American, Anglo, Hispanic, Native American); (b) gender; and (c) years of track experience on causal attributional dimensions (locus of causality, stability, controllability). The 755 track athletes (ages 13—18) in this study were chosen from 32 randomly selected high schools. Two 3-way MANOVAs were used to analyze data for success and failure. Results indicated that gender and experience had no significant effects on attributional dimensions. Athletes classified causality toward internal, controllable, and unstable ends of the Causal Dimension Scale. Success, however, was perceived to be more internal, controllable, and stable than failure. Significant ethnic differences were identified. Anglos perceived success as more internal and controllable than did either African Americans or Native Americans. Anglos perceived failure as more controllable than African Americans did. Anglos perceived failure as more internal and controllable, but less stable than Native Americans did.
Psychosocial Factors Related to Eating Disorders among High School and College Female Cheerleaders
Authors: Reel Justine J. , Gill Diane L.
Published: August 2016

Seventy-three college female and 84 high school female cheerleaders participated in the current study on eating disorders and pressures within cheerleading. The participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), and CHEER, a measure developed by the authors to identify pressures within cheerleading. A one-way MANOVA indicated significant differences between high school and college cheerleaders on CHEER and SPAS. Correlational analyses revealed a strong relation between SPAS, body dissatisfaction scores, and eating behavior, suggesting that body image is an important predictor for eating disorders in cheerleaders. Moreover, although high school cheerleaders reported fewer pressures than their college counterparts, they exhibited greater body dissatisfaction and disordered eating patterns.
The Organizational Tasks of High-Performance Gymnastic Coaches
Authors: Côté Jean , Salmela John H.
Published: August 2016

The purpose of this study was to report the knowledge used by expert high-performance gymnastic coaches in the organization of training and competition. In-depth interviews were conducted with 9 coaches who worked with male gymnasts and 8 coaches who worked with female gymnasts. Qualitative analyses showed that coaches of males and coaches of females planned training similarly, except that coaches of females appeared to emphasize esthetic and nutritional issues to a greater extent. Coaches of males revealed more concerns about the organization of gymnasts’ physical conditioning. Analysis indicated that expert gymnastic coaches of males and females are constantly involved in dynamic social interactions with gymnasts, parents, and assistant coaches. Many areas of coaches’ organizational work, such as dealing with the athletes’ personal concerns and working with parents, are not part of the structure of coaches’ training programs and emerged as crucial tasks of expert gymnastic coaches for developing elite gymnasts.