Does Involement in Sports Begt Better Character...

Acts of violence, drug use, promiscuous or aggressive sexual attitudes, and cheating are some common issues on college campuses today. These behaviors things can happen amongwithin athletes and non-athletes alike. HoweverYet, most people perceive sports as being pure, and are regarded as highly instrumental in developing an enhanced morality, a propensity to follow rules and regulations, and a general respect for others, all of which in turn makes them good citizens in everyday life. Conversely, sports psychologists suggest that involvement in sports does not necessarily beget better character development. (Weiss Smith, 2002) Sports involvement usually requires more aggressive acts that are not normally tolerated in everyday†¦show more content†¦Anger often begets aggressive acts, but is not necessarily a must. High levels of anger and aggressiveness are associated with an increased tendency for aggressive behavior in nonathletes (Farrington, 1978) and athletes (Maxwe ll and Moores, 2007; Visek et al., 2009). Athletic identity is also acknowledged to be as an indicator of aggression levels. Brewer et al (1993) defines athletic identity as ‘‘the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role’’ (p 237). The Athletic Identity Maintenance Model (Visek et al., 2009) states that people who are completely engrossed in their role as an athlete and hold their identity to high standards (e.g., masculine, tough, aggressive) that are often associated with aggressive, rule violating behaviors are more likely to exhibit such behavior on and off the playing field. Visek et al. recently did a study on American and Chinese contact and collision athletes that supported this model. Their findings indicated that anger and aggressiveness is positively correlated with athletic identity. Men’s team sports are often associated with hegemonic (dominant) masculinity and hyper-heterosexuality. Connell (1987, 1995) provides an understanding of the problematic method