Corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability: Why professional sport is greening the playing field

In this study, we explore institutional forces affecting environmental sustainability in professional sport teams and leagues in North America. Interviews with sport executives and executives from partner groups, 122 websites and organizational documents, and 56 media reports were examined. Data revealed how environmental management practices are being diffused in professional sport organizations. Evidence indicated associative behavior among sport organizations with respect to environmental management. Data also illustrated that media played a role in driving and defining the type and extent of involvement in professional sport teams’ environmental sustainability efforts. We discuss environmental sustainability as it affects a team's or league's CSR related initiatives (i.e., averting legal recourse, saving money, as well as building stronger relationships with stakeholders (e.g., customers, fans, local communities, federal governments and corporate partners)), and speculate how these efforts might evolve and inform the development of environmental sustainability in organizations in the sport, service and entertainment sectors.     

Goal orientations,motivational climate,and prosocial and antisocial behaviour in youth football: Exploring their temporal stability and reciprocal relationships

Abstract

In this study, we examined the temporal stability and reciprocal relationships among task and ego orientation, task- and ego-involving climates, and prosocial and antisocial behaviour in youth football. Male (n = 156) and female (n = 24) footballers (mean age 14.1 years, s = 1.8) completed questionnaires towards the beginning and end of a regular season. Questionnaires measured goal orientation, perceived motivational climate, and frequency of prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Structural equation modelling indicated moderate covariance stability between the beginning and end of the season. Subsequent analyses revealed a significant decrease only in perceptions of task-involving climate. In the cross-lagged analyses, prosocial behaviour at the beginning of the season positively predicted task-involving climate at the end of the season. Antisocial behaviour at the beginning of the season positively predicted both ego orientation and ego-involving climate at the end of the season and a reciprocal relationship was revealed whereby ego orientation at the beginning of the season positively predicted antisocial behaviour at the end of the season. Task orientation at the beginning of the season negatively predicted ego-involving climate at the end of the season. All cross-lagged relationships were weak. This exploratory study offers limited support for bi-directional relationships between personal, environmental, and behavioural variables but provides useful insight into the covariance stability, change, and interrelationships between motivational and moral constructs over a competitive season.     

Bracketed morality and ethical ideologies of sport fans

Historically, scholarship on ethics in sport has focused almost exclusively on practices of athletes, coaches and leagues. In this study, we highlight a serious void in the existing empirical literature on morality – ethical ideology and intention – of sport fans. Applying ‘bracketed morality,’ sport fans sometimes enact or accept behaviours otherwise regarded as problematic in everyday situations – insulting athletes, cursing at officials, celebrating riotously and/or intimidating fans of rival teams. Only some fans actually sanction (oppose) these kinds of behaviours, suggesting that they are questionable but not necessarily problematic, and, thus, worthy of closer investigation. Here, with the aid of four scenarios, we find that sport fans’ ethical ideology influences ethical intention. We also find that this influence is mediated twofold by ethical perception of moral problems and trivialization of observed situations, with trivialization exhibiting greater influence. Hence, while ethical ideologies and perceptions are important, they may be bracketed in evaluations of sport-fan behaviours.     

Goal orientations, motivational climate, and prosocial and antisocial behaviour in youth football: exploring their temporal stability and reciprocal relationships

In this study, we examined the temporal stability and reciprocal relationships among task and ego orientation, task- and ego-involving climates, and prosocial and antisocial behaviour in youth football. Male (n = 156) and female (n = 24) footballers (mean age 14.1 years, s = 1.8) completed questionnaires towards the beginning and end of a regular season. Questionnaires measured goal orientation, perceived motivational climate, and frequency of prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Structural equation modelling indicated moderate covariance stability between the beginning and end of the season. Subsequent analyses revealed a significant decrease only in perceptions of task-involving climate. In the cross-lagged analyses, prosocial behaviour at the beginning of the season positively predicted task-involving climate at the end of the season. Antisocial behaviour at the beginning of the season positively predicted both ego orientation and ego-involving climate at the end of the season and a reciprocal relationship was revealed whereby ego orientation at the beginning of the season positively predicted antisocial behaviour at the end of the season. Task orientation at the beginning of the season negatively predicted ego-involving climate at the end of the season. All cross-lagged relationships were weak. This exploratory study offers limited support for bi-directional relationships between personal, environmental, and behavioural variables but provides useful insight into the covariance stability, change, and interrelationships between motivational and moral constructs over a competitive season.     

The coach-athlete relationship: a motivational model

The aim of this paper is to present a motivational model of the coach-athlete relationship that describes how coaches may influence athletes' motivation. In line with cognitive evaluation theory (Deci and Ryan, 1980, 1985) and the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997, 2000), a motivational sequence is proposed where coaches' personal orientation towards coaching, the context within which they operate, and their perceptions of their athletes' behaviour and motivation influence coaches' behaviours. Also, coaches' behaviours in the form of autonomy-supportive behaviours, provision of structure and involvement have a beneficial impact on athletes' needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, which, in turn, nurture athletes' intrinsic motivation and self-determined types of extrinsic motivation. Here, we first review coaches' autonomy-supportive behaviours. We then describe the psychological processes through which coaching behaviours have a positive influence on athletes' intrinsic and self-determined extrinsic motivation. Finally, we identify social and personality processes that determine coaching behaviours.     

A systematic review of the technology-based assessment of visual perception and exploration behaviour in association football

To visually perceive opportunities for action, athletes rely on the movements of their eyes, head and body to explore their surrounding environment. To date, the specific types of technology and their efficacy for assessing the exploration behaviours of association footballers have not been systematically reviewed. This review aimed to synthesise the visual perception and exploration behaviours of footballers according to the task constraints, action requirements of the experimental task, and level of expertise of the athlete, in the context of the technology used to quantify the visual perception and exploration behaviours of footballers. A systematic search for papers that included keywords related to football, technology, and visual perception was conducted. All 38 included articles utilised eye-movement registration technology to quantify visual perception and exploration behaviour. The experimental domain appears to influence the visual perception behaviour of footballers, however no studies investigated exploration behaviours of footballers in open-play situations. Studies rarely utilised representative stimulus presentation or action requirements. To fully understand the visual perception requirements of athletes, it is recommended that future research seek to validate alternate technologies that are capable of investigating the eye, head and body movements associated with the exploration behaviours of footballers during representative open-play situations.     

Escalation vs. non-escalation of fan violence in football? Narratives from ultra fans,police officers and security employees

Despite a large body of literature about fan violence issues, research investigating perceptions and dynamics in potentially violent situations, called critical incidents (CIs), is missing. This qualitative study examined the perceptions and dynamics of CIs involving ultra football fans. Fifty-nine semi-structured interviews with individuals (fans, police officers or security employees) involved in eight CIs were conducted and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The assessment of legitimacy of an out-group’s actions strongly influenced the perception of a CI, which is in line with the Elaborated Social Identity Model. Informative intergroup communication about the own intentions seemed to increase perception of legitimacy, while arrests of fans due to pyrotechnics were perceived by fans as illegitimate. The local fan culture, e.g. the fans’ use of pyrotechnics for their support, is relevant for the understanding of this assessment of legitimacy.     

Changing the way people think about health-enhancing physical activity: do mass media campaigns have a role?

Mass media campaigns are conducted to influence community norms around health behaviours, including physical activity. Campaigns can reach large populations at relatively low cost, to influence awareness, knowledge and beliefs through to intention and behaviour change. We reviewed 15 campaigns with an explicit focus on physical activity, and explored impacts upon a range of proximal and distal variables. Campaigns achieved high recall, with a median of 70% of the target group aware of the campaign. Increases in knowledge or attitudes to physical activity were found among half the campaigns that reported this measure. Few campaigns reported other proximal variables, such as saliency, beliefs, self-efficacy or behavioural intention. Increases in physical activity were reported among motivated sub-groups of volunteers, but few campaigns reported population increases in activity. Campaigns increase awareness of the issue of physical activity but may not have a population-level effect on behaviour. Campaigns should focus more on influencing proximal variables, such as social norms, to bring about long-term behaviour change. This should be seen as part of a broader strategy, including policy and environmental change. Evaluation designs that measure the full range of variables are preferred to an over-concentration on behaviour alone.     

Changing the way people think about health-enhancing physical activity: do mass media campaigns have a role?

Mass media campaigns are conducted to influence community norms around health behaviours, including physical activity. Campaigns can reach large populations at relatively low cost, to influence awareness, knowledge and beliefs through to intention and behaviour change. We reviewed 15 campaigns with an explicit focus on physical activity, and explored impacts upon a range of proximal and distal variables. Campaigns achieved high recall, with a median of 70% of the target group aware of the campaign. Increases in knowledge or attitudes to physical activity were found among half the campaigns that reported this measure. Few campaigns reported other proximal variables, such as saliency, beliefs, self-efficacy or behavioural intention. Increases in physical activity were reported among motivated sub-groups of volunteers, but few campaigns reported population increases in activity. Campaigns increase awareness of the issue of physical activity but may not have a population-level effect on behaviour. Campaigns should focus more on influencing proximal variables, such as social norms, to bring about long-term behaviour change. This should be seen as part of a broader strategy, including policy and environmental change. Evaluation designs that measure the full range of variables are preferred to an over-concentration on behaviour alone.     

亚运情境下广州民生举措满意度对知觉与凝聚力的中介作用

以广州亚运会为个案.采用自行设计的民生举措知觉和满意度量表及居民凝聚力量表,探讨亚运情境下当地居民对政府民生举措满意度,及其对居民民生举措知觉、居民凝聚力是否具有中介作用.结果显示:当地居民时政府在举办亚运情境下所采取的能源、安全、就业、全民健身、生态环保、民生服务等举措的知觉,显著影响居民凝聚力;由于民生举措满意度的加入使该影响变小或变得不显著.说明民生举措满意度对民生举措知觉与居民凝聚力具有中介作用.     

Residents’ perceptions of mega sport event legacies and impacts

The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of local residents prior to the public referendum for the 2024 Hamburg Olympic bid and to assess their level of support for the bid. The representative survey conducted amongst Hamburg residents reveals a high level of support but also a strong perception of negative legacies. A comparison between the perceived positive and negative legacies shows that the negative legacies outweigh the positive legacies. When examining factors that influence support, statistical analysis reveals the perception of positive legacies as the strongest predictor of support. The survey also indicates that residents attach great importance to the costs of the Games and feel no personal benefit from hosting them. The findings suggest that Games organizers and authorities should mostly rely on positive legacies while negative legacies ought to be mitigated.     

Sporting intervention and social change: football,marginalised youth and citizenship development

Numerous sport-based interventions exist which target marginalised or ‘at-risk’ young people with the intention of enabling some form of social change for programme participants. Very often, the objective of such interventions is the acquisition and development of qualities associated with ‘good citizenship’. However, critical scholars have noted how sport-based initiatives are frequently used as a form of social control, focusing on the development of personal responsibility. As such, these initiatives accentuate more passive forms of citizenship, as opposed to more active forms of citizenship towards which many educational policies and programmes are aimed. Nevertheless, there is a limited amount literature which explores the connection between sport-based interventions and citizenship development within marginalised or ‘at-risk’ youth populations. This paper presents findings from a small-scale, qualitative study of one such (football-based) intervention located in a number of inner-city boroughs of London, UK. Placing the accounts of programme participants and staff at the centre of the analysis, the paper: (i) uncovers the practicalities and nuances of football being utilised as a tool for social engagement, and (ii) explores broader notions of personal and behavioural development in relation to the acquisition of citizenship qualities. The paper concludes by suggesting that sporting activity may confer citizenship benefits for young people, but only when integrated into wider programmes of social support and community engagement.     

The mascot that wouldn’t die: a case study of fan identification and mascot loyalty

The issue of sports mascot loyalty, especially to those mascots considered offensive, was investigated through fan identification theory, and applied to the mascot controversy at a large university in the United States. Replicating a previous university survey on the mascot question, a survey of current university students (N = 3616) revealed a strong relationship between mascot loyalty and fan identification, particularly related to one’s perceptions of ‘belonging to the university sports family’, and ‘associating with sports fans’ of the university. Other important findings include age differences and the marginalization of Asian-American fans. The implications and applications of these findings were discussed.     

Effects of an intervention programme with teachers on the development of positive behaviours in Spanish physical education classes

Background: The physical education (PE) context has been emphasised as an ideal environment for developing positive behaviours among students. Under the Positive Youth Development paradigm, various initiatives have been conducted with the aim of promoting personal and social responsibility among adolescents. Self-Determination Theory has been widely used to analyse students’ motivational processes during PE classes.

Purpose: This study aimed to measure the effects of a multidisciplinary intervention with teachers on the development of positive behaviours in PE classes.

Participants: Twenty PE teachers participated in the study (M_age?=?35 years; SD?=?2.32) along with 777 of their students (M_age?=?12.81 years; SD?=?.93). The teachers (male?=?16; female?=?4) were between the ages of 29 and 48 years (M?=?35.2 years; SD?=?2.32). The students who participated in this study (male?=?377; female?=?400) were divided into 52 classes and were between the ages of 12 and 16 years (M?=?12.81; SD?=?.93).

Research design: A quasi-experimental design was used that consisted of a control group and three groups in which an intervention was developed. In the control group, the teachers did not receive any type of intervention; in the second group, the teachers received a training programme to develop strategies for supporting basic psychological needs and promoting positive behaviours; in the third group, the teachers received a didactic unit to promote positive behaviours; and in the last group the teachers received a combination of the two previous interventions.

Data analysis: A repeated-measures ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) was used for every dependent variable included in the study to analyse the effect of Group?×?Time interaction, including Gender and Grade Level as covariates. The fixed effects caused by Intercept, Group, Time, and the Group?×?Time interaction were calculated using compound symmetry as the type of covariance and restricted maximum likelihood as the estimation method.

Findings: By examining the differences between pre-test and post-test, it was determined that in comparison with the students in the control group, the students from the three experimental groups had generally improved scores on the variables related to positive behaviours, such as perceptions of the teacher's support, as well as the development of the targeted behaviours.

Conclusions: These results provide information about the efficacy of an intervention programme with teachers that consists of strategies for developing positive behaviour and support for basic psychological needs to promote the development of positive student behaviour.     

Investigating the role of corporate credibility in corporate social marketing: A case study of environmental initiatives by professional sport organizations

The purpose of this study is to understand how professional sport organizations might influence consumer voluntary behavior through their corporate social marketing (CSM) initiatives by focusing on the role of corporate credibility. The study examined consumer responses to environmental initiatives by two professional sport teams, and showed that organizational and program characteristics were associated with the corporate credibility of the teams in supporting environmental protection (i.e., environmental credibility). Environmental credibility, in turn, was found to have a positive association with consumer pro-environmental behavior measured by daily recycling involvement and recycling intentions during the teams’ home games. The results further revealed that environmental credibility was more strongly associated with recycling intentions during games for respondents who were less involved in environmental issues. Together, these findings suggest that professional sport organizations can be an effective vehicle for socially beneficial behavior by increasing their credibility in CSM involvement.     

Body image, perceived and actual physical abilities in normal-weight and overweight boys involved in individual and team sports

The aim of the study was to examine the relationships among body image, perception of physical abilities, and motor performance in boys involved in organized individual (i.e. tennis, fencing, judo) and team (i.e. soccer, handball, volleyball) sports. Altogether, 162 children (12.6 ± 1.0 years) were categorized as normal-weight (n = 85) or overweight (n = 77). Body image was measured using Collins' Child Figure Drawings, while individuals' perceptions of strength, speed, and agility were assessed using the Perceived Physical Ability Scale. Fitness tests of the standing long jump, 20 m sprint, and 10 × 5 m shuttle-run were also administered. Overweight boys showed greater body dissatisfaction and lower actual physical abilities than normal-weight peers. Participants involved in team sports reported lower body dissatisfaction and better performances in the shuttle-run compared with those involved in individual sports. For boys participating in team sports, body dissatisfaction was a significant mediator of the effect of body mass index on perceived physical ability. Results may influence intervention efforts, suggesting that targeting personal, psychological, and physical factors may prove efficient across physical activity locations and weight groups.     

The downside of being irrelevant and aloof: Exploring why individuals do not attend sport

Understanding what influences an individual to transition from awareness that a sport team exists to attraction to that team is of critical importance in the management and development of consumer bases. Determining the factors that prevent individuals at a stage of awareness from becoming attracted is of equal importance. In this paper we use a social identity approach to explore reasons for non-attendance. Qualitative data were gathered from a mixed-method online survey administered to registered participants in a large football (soccer) association in New South Wales. The questionnaire included an open-ended question allowing individuals who had not attended a match during the previous 12 months to elaborate on the reasons that they did not attend. The seventy-five individuals who responded to this open-ended question comprise the sample for this research. Data highlighted that cognitive apathy and disidentification were both salient cognitive responses associated with individuals who did not attend. Furthermore, club values and characteristics were shown to influence team-based perceptions. The findings present implications for sport teams to overcome cognitive apathy and disidentification through organisation-initiated efforts to disseminate information and promote the team, as well as efforts to align team characteristics and values with consumer perceptions.     

Exploring the relationships between collective efficacy,perceptions of success,and team attributions

Abstract

We examined the influence of collective efficacy and subjective interpretations of success/failure on team causal attributions. The participants were 71 male and female high school athletes on 20 track relay teams. Before a selected competition, participants completed a collective efficacy questionnaire. Then, immediately after their race, they were administered a modified version of the revised Causal Dimension Scale-II. A multi-level framework was employed to assess collective efficacy as an individually held perception and as a shared team belief. The individual perceptions of team success/failure significantly predicted the locus of causality and stability dimensions, whereas aggregated collective efficacy emerged as a significant team level predictor of average stability. Individual perceptions of collective efficacy were significantly related to team control and this relationship was moderated by the sex of the team. The findings indicate that collective efficacy beliefs held by athletes and teams prior to a competition influence the formation of post-competition team attributions in sport.     

社会越轨行为视野下的足球球迷骚乱分析

以社会越轨行为的三种主流学说--违反规范学说、建构学说、开放学说为理论基础,对近8年来国内的一般球迷骚乱事件为研究对象,从而分析球迷骚乱事件频繁发生的深层诱因。研究结论显示:裁判不公与执法不力、比赛中的腐败现象、社会压力、狭隘民族主义、文化偏见、媒体的负面影响、比赛地点、民族历史冲突及其双方交战历史等都是引发足球球迷骚乱的诱因。     

Differences between violent and non-violent adolescents in terms of sport background and sport-related psychological variables

Abstract

To date, neither theoretical approaches nor empirical findings allow clear predictions about the influence of sport engagement on youth violence. The present study uses a typological approach to investigate groups of adolescents with different characteristics of violent behaviour and cognition regarding their sport background and psychological variables associated with violent behaviour. A sample of 2438 Swiss adolescents aged 12–18 years completed five self-report questionnaires on sport engagement, violent behaviour and cognition, self-concept, wellbeing, and stress perception. After in-depth data cleaning and method checking, the data of 832 participants were clustered using the Ward method. Five reliable clusters based on violent behaviour and cognition can be identified: non-violent adolescents, adolescents at risk, violence supporters, psychological harassers, and violent adolescents. Harassers are most engaged in sports and are over-represented among elite athletes. Violent adolescents are over-represented in game sports with body contact, whereas non-violent adolescents are involved in individual sports with a focus on aesthetic factors. Results further reveal that non-violent adolescents scored highest on general self-concept and relationship to parents, whereas harassers scored highest on general sport abilities. Moreover, harassers and violent adolescents have the least favourable values on different scales of wellbeing and stress perception. Given the cross-sectional nature of the study, no conclusion about selection or socializing processes can be drawn. Further in-depth consideration is needed to advance our understanding of the relationship between sport, psychological dimensions, and violence.