title: Social Capital Creation Through Olympic Games - Theoretical Modelling and Evidence on Olympic Values
Creators: name: Prüschenk, Nathalie
Publisher: name: University of Bayreuth
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Olympic Games
subject: Youth Olympic Games
subject: Social Capital
subject: Social Trust
subject: Olympic Values
subject: Olympism
subject: Olympic Education
subject: Sport Spectators
subject: Spectator Perception
subject: Spectator Experience
subject: Social Exchange Theory
subject: International Olympic Committee
subject: Major Sport Events
subject: Sport Event Management
subject: Sport Governance
subject: 300
subject: 330
subject: 790

description: The study makes a theoretical and empirical contribution to identify implications for a potential social capital creation in society through Olympic Games. The debate on Olympic gigantism and the recent phenomenon of failed referenda of hosting Olympic Games in western democracies are the central starting point. Against this background, the question arises whether the so-called Olympism, as the ethical foundation of the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games, lost its appeal within postmodern societies and how to regain or enhance the esteem of the Olympic values. Fostering Olympism, which is rooted in humanism, in the spectators’ perception could be an effective instrument to generate and enlarge social trust and, thus, to create social capital. In principle, contemporary Olympic Games have, despite or rather because of their long history, exactly the postmodern characteristics which potentially inspire people in times of ongoing commercialization and omnipresent eventization. In terms of spectator demand, both for TV coverage and for live attendance, the attraction of Olympic Games is indeed sustained. Instead, it seems to be the conveyance of the Olympic movement’s values that suffered from the mentioned social trends of postmodernism in western societies. In this context, the diverse social environments may be drivers of, or obstructive to social capital creation. In two studies of this doctoral thesis, the perception of the principal problem of the Olympic movement (in particular, the growth and costs of the Olympics) and of alternative formats to the Olympic Games (i.e., the Youth Olympic Games) are analyzed and discussed based on an exploratory empirical approach using data of an online survey prior to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. In a third study, the stages of social capital creation as well as the interrelationships between societal stakeholder groups are modeled by constructs of communication and social theory. The assumptions and propositions of the theoretical model are then tested by survey data (N=2,078) gathered from three contrary Olympic environments (visitors of the 2016 Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games and attendees as well as TV viewers of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics). The findings confirm that fostering Olympic values significantly mitigates the critical stance toward Olympic gigantism among the population. By an open and credible communication of the costs in the run-up to Olympic Games and by a focus on social goals, collective trust in the society can be reinforced. During the hosting of the Games, the emotional experience, on the one hand, and the governmental environment, on the other hand, are decisive. The modest format of the Youth Olympic Games is a suitable instrument for social capital conveyance, in particular, toward younger people as they appreciate the format significantly more. Generally, a targeted governance is imperative to sustain and enhance Olympic social capital. To this end, tangible strategic recommendations are proposed.