Do high school sports build character? A quasi-experiment on a national sample
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12007355 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Colin Rees (0000-0001-5134-8910, Adelphi University, corresponding author), C Roger Rees (Adelphi University) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 303-315 |
| Publication date | 1990-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Social Science Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0362-3319 • E-ISSN: 1873-5355 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1016/0362-3319(90)90027-h |
| OpenAlex | W2009021818 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
| References cited | 22 |
Popular sport culture, conventional social wisdom and promotional ideology by athletic associations suggest that participation in high school varsity sports programs has positive effects on prosocial personality traits (i.e., sport “builds character”). While it is an open ended process to specify which facets of personality are affected during the high school years by playing sports, we use a broad array of personality measures in a secondary analysis of a five-wave panel of U.S. males. Drawing from the nationally representative Youth in Transition panel (n = 1,628), we employ a quasi-experimental design incorporating pre- and post-sports participation measures of personality to evaluate the “sport builds character” argument. Few statistically significant effects of varsity sports participation on social character are observed in these data on males during the late-60s and early-70s. Since little positive evidence was found, we challenge the “sports builds character” myth of conventional high school sport programs
Argument (complex analysis · Character (mathematics · Ideology · Personality · Political science · Politics · Prosocial behavior · Sample (material · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support
The Role of School-Based Extracurricular Activities in Adolescent Development
Athletic Participation and the Approval and Use of Violence
Developing civic consciousness through social engagement among Hong Kong youths
Gendered Fields
Extracurricular activity participation, school belonging, and depressed mood
Predictors of Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior in an Adolescent Sports Context
Alcohol and Marijuana Use among American High School Seniors
A School-Level Analysis of Adolescent Extracurricular Activity, Delinquency, and Depression
Athletic Involvement and Adolescent Delinquency
Actively Closing the Gap? Social Class, Organized Activities, and Academic Achievement in High School
Does Participation in Interscholastic Athletics Affect Adult Development
Interscholastic Sports Participation and School Based Delinquency
High School Athletic Participation and Adolescent Suicide
Race, sport and social mobility
Extracurricular Involvement and Delinquency
Religiosity Moderates Goal Courage and Self-Worth in Collegiate Christian Athletes
Learning from the Band
Adolescence to adulthood
The Psychosocial Functions of Sport as Perceived by the General Population
Implicit Meanings
Athletic Aggression
Divergence in Moral Reasoning about Sport and Everyday Life
The Lessons of Sports
Do High School Athletics Pay
The Education of College Student-Athletes
Developmental Effects of Athletic Participation among High School Girls
Adolescence to Adulthood
Social Relations at Home and at School
Athletics in High School
Therapeutic Songwriting in Music Therapy
Athletics, Aspirations, and Attainments
Athletics and Social Participation in the Educational Attainment Process
From Idealism to Pragmatic Detachment
Lament for the Letterman
| Unique citing works | 17 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,53 |
| Citation span | 1994 - 2025 (32) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 17 |