Almost 40% of adult Americans say they have experienced a certain type of unhappiness related to sport in their lives, according to a new study.
The ill -treatment went from psychological and emotional to physical and sexual. But most of the people who have declared ill -treatment experienced more than one, revealed research.
And a third of those who have never even played organized sports reported ill -treatment related to sport.
“Many people talk about how they hated college or high school because of recreation or gym lessons Chris Knoesterco-author of the study and professor of Sociology at Ohio State University.
“It simply talks about the omnipresence of the ill -treatment related to sport in our company that we document in this research.”
The study, published online recently in the International Journal of Leisure Sociologywas led by Mariah Warner, a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State.
The study used survey data on 3,849 adults who participated in National Sports Survey and Society (Nsass), sponsored by Ohio State Sports and company initiative. Those questioned volunteered to participate through the American population panelDirected by the Ohio State Human Resources Research Center. The participants, from the 50 states, responded to the online survey between fall 2018 and spring 2019.
Overall, 38% answered yes to the question “Have you ever been mistreated in your sports interactions.” They were not asked in what context they were mistreated, but the fact that many people who declared ill -treatment said that they had not played organized sports suggest that this could have happened during school recreation, physical education lessons, informal game with peers, or even by looking at sports, said Knomester.
Psychological or emotional ill -treatment was the most common, cited by 64% of those who were mistreated, followed by a hate speech and discrimination. About a quarter of those who report ill -treatment said it was physical, while 10% said it was sexual.
“The amount of existing ill -treatment is remarkable. It really contrasts with the myth that sports are all good and healthy and positive for those who play, “said Knoester.
The most common reason why people said for abuse were because of their weight, quoted by 52% of abused respondents. This makes sense in terms of what is happening in many schools, he said.
“Physical education courses and recreation have exposed your body in a way that does not happen too often otherwise,” he noted.
“And obviously, weight is something that people observe and classmates or people in public can be quick to mistreat or ridicule others if their weight does not comply with cultural expectations.”
After the weight, the reasons most often rated in ill -treatment were sex (34%), sexual identity (20%), race or ethnicity (19%), disability status (12%) and religion (11%).
Unsurprisingly, in the light of traditional jock cultures, people who succeeded in students and less athletic said more ill -treatment, Knoester said.
Elite sports and more competitive environments also seemed to be more inclined to ill -treatment.
However, striking, it was men and whites who were most likely to deal with sports ill -treatment, have shown the results.
Other research shows that blacks tend to recognize sports as relatively more positive environments for social interactions and comments, which may explain why they report less ill -treatment, said Knoester.
And for men, the culture of masculinity in sports can make ridicule, fights, hazing and other forms of ill-treatment more common than for women, he added.
Knoester said that if the study suggests that the ill-treatment related to sport are common, the results can always underestimate the quantity really.
“They were adults remembering the events of their childhood, so there can be a recall problem,” he said. “And Americans are generally positive on sport, so they may not be inclined to report bad things that have happened to them in this context.”
Knoester said he hoped that the study helps draw attention to an aspect of sports that people don’t want to talk about.
“Sport -related interactions are not always positive. I think it is important to better understand how frequency of negative interactions occur and what we can do as a society to improve the culture of sport, otherwise there is no way in place for improvement, “he said.