cultural influences on other aspects of the consultancy process in sport (e.g., practitioners’ cultural competency). For example, preferred consultant characteristics and/or a preferred structure for psychological skills training could impact on the success of a PST program as reported by Ponnusamy and
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Perceived Importance of Selected Psychological Strategies Among Elite Malaysian Athletes
Vellapandian Ponnusamy, Michelle Guerrero, and Jeffrey J. Martin
Athlete Perceptions of Coaching Effectiveness and Athlete-Level Outcomes in Team and Individual Sports: A Cross-Cultural Investigation
Ahmad F. Mohd Kassim and Ian D. Boardley
athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s character-building effectiveness are positively linked with athletes’ moral identity. Cultural Influences on Coaching Effectiveness Due to the inherent complexity of coaching, it is possible that some of the links between athlete perceptions of effective coaching and
Accepting the Risks of Pain and Injury in Sport: Mediated Cultural Influences on Playing Hurt
Howard L. Nixon II
This paper considers the nature and implications of cultural messages about risk, pain, injury, and comebacks in sport that are mediated by a popular American sports magazine. The analysis is based on evidence from a content analysis of Sports Illustrated articles, the results of which suggest that athletes are exposed to a set of mediated beliefs about structural constraints, structural inducements, general cultural values, and processes of institutional rationalization and athletic socialization that collectively convey the message that they ought to accept the risks, pain, and injuries of sport.
Leveraging Events to Develop Collaborative Partnerships: Examining the Formation and Collaborative Dynamics of the Ontario Parasport Legacy Group
Laura Misener, Landy Di Lu, and Robert Carlisi
analysis shows that the formation of the OPLG was shaped through a number of environmental elements, including resource conditions (i.e., scarcity of resources), window of collaborative opportunity (i.e., hosting large-scale sport events), and cultural influence (i.e., changing norms around collaboration
Student Attitudes Toward Integration of People with Disabilities in Activity Settings: A European Comparison
Peter Downs and Trevor Williams
This study examines, in a comparative context, the attitudes of undergraduate students toward the integration of people with disabilities in activity settings. The Physical Educators’ Attitudes Toward Teaching the Handicapped instrument was used to test preservice physical education undergraduates (N = 371) from universities in England, Denmark, Belgium, and Portugal on attitude variables previously found significant in North American research. Mann-Whitney U analysis revealed significant attitudinal differences between the variables of gender, previous experience with disability, and disability classification (physical or learning disability); between cross-cultural influences of the Belgian sample and the English, Danish, and Portuguese samples; and between the English and the Danish samples.
Sport Licensing and Internationalization: A Case Analysis of the Reebok Bike Business
Mark Hecox
Reebok officially entered the bike business after 15 years of deliberation and strategic re-tooling. This case presents a situation that considers how the process of internationalization may be impacted by various factors both internal and external to the firm. The analysis examines multiple marketing elements, including brand position, product development, distribution channel, pricing, promotion, and operating model. The focus of decision making in the case centers on the use of licensing and determining possible alliance partner structures as possible solutions to enable Reebok to enter the global bike business successfully. Specific internationalization elements explored include mode of entry, foreign market selection, cultural influences, supply chain, operating model, and licensing strategic alliance partner strategy. This case provides an ideal opportunity to explore and analyze why and how a sport enterprise might want to internationalize its business and the potential role sport licensing might play in the process.
Race, Sport, and Crime: The Misrepresentation of African Americans in Team Sports and Crime
Bonnie Berry and Earl Smith
Criminological literature and statistics show that African Americans are comparatively overrepresented in the United States criminal justice system. This study explores whether African American athletes are similarly overrepresented as criminally involved sports figures. Data abundantly illustrate that African Americans fare worse in all phases of criminal justice compared to whites. It has been speculated that African Americans, perhaps due to cultural influences or blocked opportunities, do commit more crime than other racial categories. There is equally strong reason to believe that the representation of African Americans in the criminal justice system is largely a result of racial bias on the part of social control agencies. Crime among athletes, regardless of race, can be explained through social forces, such as collective behavior, organizational influences, and social process. We conclude that African American athletes are socially expected to be engaged in crime and suggest a new approach to this area of study.
American Tackle Football, Brain Trauma, and the Ethical Implications of Cultural Coercion
Adam Berg
In the past decade and a half, scientific discoveries brought to light the prospect that tackle football causes serious brain trauma. This raised questions about the sport’s ethical permissibility. By employing scientific, philosophical, sociological, and historical findings, I consider whether it is ethically defensible to permit adults to play the game. My approach works within the bounds of both the ethical theory of liberalism and incorporates several sociological theories focused on gender. I propose that external cultural influences deserve some credit for shaping decisions to participate in America’s most popular spectator sport and contend that societies must establish genuinely pluralistic and inclusive gender ideologies and structures to ensure football’s permissibility. In particular, I suggest that to ensure that tackle football is ethical for adults, the presence and prominence of gender pluralism and inclusivity in youth settings are necessary.
Wellness Matters: Promoting Health in Young Adults
Barbara E. Ainsworth and Cheryl Der Ananian
There is a growing recognition of the need for the primary prevention of chronic illnesses across the lifespan. In recent years, diseases that were formerly associated with adulthood such as diabetes are being diagnosed in adolescents and young adults. While there have been many prevention efforts focusing on health in children and adolescents, there is a limited body of research examining prevention in young adults. This article examines the concept of wellness in the Millennial generation and describes how their life course experiences impact seven domains of wellness. Specifically, this article describes the period and cohort effects that influence the domains of wellness and how the Millennial generation differs from other generations in these aspects of wellness. Finally, this paper provides an overview of the technological and cultural influences on wellness in the Millennial generation.
Physical Activity and Human Development among Older Native American Women
Karla A. Henderson and Barbara E. Ainsworth
Physical activity involvement often changes as an individual gets older. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the involvement in and meanings of physical activity from childhood to the present among a selected group of Native American women. The results showed that perceived meanings of physical activity remained relatively stable over the lives of these women. Two patterns of involvement emerged among the women: decliners and rejuvenators. The results suggested that physical activity as women aged was a result not of choice as often as of a life situation. Furthermore, the changes occurring in physical activity over the life course reflected social and cultural influences, as well as individual self-determination. The findings indicated that a variety of perspectives are needed if researchers are to understand the changes that occur in physical activity patterns and how both women and men of all ethnic groups might remain involved in physical activity throughout their lives.
