American International Journal of Social Science

A Multidimensional Sport Attitudes Scale for Multinational Research
Cengiz Yakut, Kevin Morrin, James Bean

Abstract
A multidimensional sport attitude scale was created to measure important sub-areas in sport beliefs and attitudes across cultures. To test this scale we compared sport beliefs and attitudes in a sample of American college students and faculty with similar populations of German and Austrian respondents and found common, as well as, differing attitudes, determinants of attitudes, and constellations of attitudes. Both populations believe that sport participation builds character, enhances health, should support diversity, and is important to early education. Some differences were that the American sample displayed stronger nationalistic tendencies in sport attitudes, watched sports more, accepted on-field violence in sports competitions more, were more in favor of punishing athletes who take performance enhancing drugs, think young people get pushed too hard in sports competition, viewed sports as a way of preserving cultural traditions, and were more in favor of “counting medals” in the Olympics. However, German speaking respondents more strongly opposed any religious discrimination in sports.

Full Text: PDF