Part 4: 'Character in Sport': Fact or Fiction?

• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction?

  • Yes, no, maybe 
  • Yes it can for some people in some situations 
  • No it doesn’t for other people in other situations 
  • Maybe: for some people in some situations depending on coaching may get reinforcement from others; may or may not learn this stuff
  • In general, it is NOT automatic
  • Reinforcement from others, may or may not learn this
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Does Sport Develop Moral Reasoning? 

  • Answer:   in general… NO!!
  • WHY?
  • (i) Players are assigned limited responsibility for their moral actions in sport (moral disengagement).  
  • Many moral "decisions" (e.g. definition of foul play) are placed in the hands of officials, umpires and referees. 
  • e.g. professional foul (end-justifies-means)
  • (ii) An implicit, socialised neutral or negative attitude about fair play/sportsmanship
  • It's not cheating unless you get caught
  • You play to the referee not the rules
  • ===>>> Game Reasoning (moral disengagement)
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Does Sport Develop Moral Reasoning? 

  • (i) Players are assigned limited responsibility for their moral actions in sport (moral disengagement)
  • Has an official deciding what's right & wrong 
  • Not like in society (we decide)
  • If idea is that build character, shouldn’t need an umpire 
  • Get the message that it’s not our job to decide what's right & wrong
  • Play to the ref, not the rules
  • Overall don’t need to decide what's right & wrong (left to ref)
  • Doesn’t support that sport builds character
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Does Sport Develop Moral Reasoning? 

  • (i) Players are assigned limited responsibility for their moral actions in sport (moral disengagement) 
  • Many moral decisions (e.g. definition of foul play) are placed in the hands of officials, umpires and referees
  • eg professional foul (end-justifies-means)
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Does Sport Develop Moral Reasoning? 

  • (ii) An implicit, socialised neutral or negative attitude about fair play/sportsmanship
  • " It's not cheating unless you get caught "
  • " You play to the referee not the rules "
  • ===>>> Game Reasoning (moral disengagement)
  • Winning is what matters (extreme end)
  • Decide what the right thing to do (morally)
  • Those with good morally is normal living, may not play morally in sport (want to win)
  • If someone gets injured, is not just for the game has a bigger impact
• Sport = Play = Fantasy = Not Real

  • “ Therefore I don’t need normal morality ”
  • Then following the rules doesn’t matter bc/ not real 
  • If someone gets injured, is not just for the game has a bigger impact - consequences are real 
  • Encourage/Taught your normal morality not needed in sport, that's what refs are for
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • (i) Self-Selection*: people with certain traits may be attracted to sport; and the sport process tends to eliminate those who don't have ‘the’ traits. 
  • (ii) Over-Generalisation*: sports tend to focus their attention on the most outstanding people in their programmes/schools/clubs.
  • * Both these mistaken claims are examples of people assuming causal relationships from correlational evidence
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • (i) Self-Selection*: people with certain traits may be attracted to sport; and the sport process tends to eliminate those who don't have the traits. 
  • Many participants in sport already possessed what many people call good character before they began
  • "Consequently sport may be more accurately described as a situation in which character may be displayed rather than developed" (Banham, 1965; Coakley, 1987)
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • (i) Self-Selection*: people with certain "traits" may be attracted to sport; and the sport process tends to "eliminate" those who don't have ‘the’ traits. 
  • Many participants in sport already possessed what many people call good character before they began
  • "Consequently sport may be more accurately described as a situation in which character may be displayed rather than developed"
  • Bc/ room for displaying good character, fall under assumption sport taught them that
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • (i) Self-Selection*: people with certain "traits" may be attracted to sport; and the sport process tends to "eliminate" those who don't have ‘the’ traits
  • People with character might cope better, & cull people out without that character 
  • Eliminate those that don’t 
  • So many of those people with character, where's the knowledge that sport built that character
  • Jumping to the assumption that sport gave them that character 
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • (ii) Over-Generalisation*: sports tend to focus their attention on the most outstanding people in their programmes/schools/clubs.
  • People assume that not only did sport build the character of these outstanding people, but that EVERY PARTICIPANT benefits as well. (Coakley, 1987)
  • If worked for someone will work for everyone (not the case)
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • (i) Self-Selection*
  • (ii) Over-Generalisation*
  • * Both these mistaken claims are examples of people assuming causal relationships from correlational evidence
  • Correlation not Causation - what comes first?
  • Doesn't mean one caused the other
  • eg Grasshopper hear with legs: jump when have legs & hear sound, but don’t when remove legs
• ‘Character in Sport’: Fact or Fiction? Why Does This Belief About Positive Benefits Exist? 

  • Not gonna happen by default or by chance, got to teach them