Televised Sports and Political Values

Abstract

Heavy viewing of televised sports and of television in general were the best predictors of conservative values for high school students.Television programming, along with the family, school, and peer group, has been found by several studies to be a significant agent of socialization for political values, the process by which new generations are integrated into the ongoing culture of a society (see 12). Traditionally, these studies have focused on the overt, cognitive role of news and public affairs programming when dealing with such socialization. More recently, attention has been given to affective, implicit components of socialization as well, especially with regard to programming which is not overtly political and which may transmit such information via incidental learning (22).Sports programming has only recently been considered in this light, despite both theory and empirical studies linking participation in sports to more conservative, traditional, and authoritarian values (1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 22, 23, 27, 32,33, 35, 37, 38). Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the potential of sports programming for the transmission of values, and their behavioral and cognitive impact on young viewers (28, 34). Recently, several authors have speculated on the role television sports plays as a conservatising influence.Real (29), citing such aspects of television sports coverage as strict regulation of activity, emphasis on property and competition, male domination, ethnocentric entertainment themes, and authoritarian structure, states that it acts as "mass propaganda," thereby "sustaining social institutions and lifestyles." Novak (25) states that such coverage "expresses implicitly realities of law, fairness, effort, and spirit," as well as dramatizing "our sense of order," and providing a necessary cultural narrative form, without which the overall culture could "fly apart."Extending this rationale, Goldstein and Bredemeier (16) state that there is "reason to believe that values transmitted by television sports are more con-Robert H.

An Exploratory Examination of the Factors Influencing the Origination, Continuation, and Cessation of Identification with Sports Teams

“…While research had documented that factors such as a preference for active pastimes, tendencies to be involved with sport as an athlete as well as a spectator, and higher socioeconomic status are related to sports viewing or attendance (Crossman, 1986;Gantz, 1981;Prisuta, 1979; Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, & Ellen, 1988), work had yet to specify variables playing the greatest roles in identification with a particular team. This article reports on an exploratory study designed to fill this void by idendying the factors involved in the origination, continuation, and cessarion of sports-team identification.…”

“…While research had documented that factors such as a preference for active pastimes, tendencies to be involved with sport as an athlete as well as a spectator, and higher socioeconomic status are related to sports viewing or attendance (Crossman, 1986;Gantz, 1981;Prisuta, 1979; Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, & Ellen, 1988), work had yet to specify variables playing the greatest roles in identification with a particular team. While research had documented that factors such as a preference for active pastimes, tendencies to be involved with sport as an athlete as well as a spectator, and higher socioeconomic status are related to sports viewing or attendance (Crossman, 1986;Gantz, 1981;Prisuta, 1979; Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, & Ellen, 1988), work had yet to specify variables playing the greatest roles in identification with a particular team.…”

Epideictic rhetoric and baseball: Nurturing community through controversy

“…7 The majority of studies that have been published, from a communication perspective, have focused primarily on media and sports. See: Bryan, Brown, Comisky, and Zillmann (1982); Bryant, Comisky, and Zillmann (1981); Duncan and Brummett (1987); Farrell (1989); Gantz (1981); Hocking (1982); Kruse (1981); MacAloon (1989);McDermott, Hocking, Johnson, and Atkin (1989); Morris and Nydahl (1983); Prisuta (1979); Reid and Soley (1979); Rothenbuhler (1989); Trujillo and Ekdom (1985). See also the special section in the Summer 1977 issue of Journalism Quarterly.…”

Sports Violence

“…The vast majority of such studies report that observers and athletes tend to become more aggressive as a result of witnessing or taking part in body-contact sports (Arms, Russell, & Sandilands, 1979;; see also , and may even become more aggressive during the course of noncontact sports, as well (Leuk, . Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that sports, as presented in the mass media, tend to emphasize politically conservative values, which in turn may be related to nationalistic attitudes Prisuta, 1979; see also Michener, 1976). Sipes (1973) conducted a cross-cultural study of the relationship between a nation's frequency of warfare and presence of combative sports, which he defIned as involving body contact, the real or symbolic gaining of playing fIeld territory, or "patently war-like activity."…”