The Enduring Impact of Parental Socialization in Sport for Girls

Purpose

Due to health concerns, adolescent risk factors, and Title IX, enduring female sport and physical activity participation has been of specific concern to many researchers (e.g., Brustad, 1996; Weiss & Barber, 1995). One approach to addressing this issue is to examine the people who are influential in the sporting lives of females. Socialization, one method of influence, is an interactive learning process whereby values and norms become transmitted. However, it is not a one-way process. Individuals being socialized do not simply conform; instead they actively participate and reciprocally influence the process by embracing, rejecting, and/or providing feedback to the socializing agents (Greendorfer & Bruce, 1991). According to the Expectancy-Value Model (Fredricks & Eccles, 2002, 2004), socializing agents' values, expectations, and role modeling impact a child's choice of activities and his/her continued involvement in them. Parents have the strongest impact on socialization during childhood, but that influence potentially wanes during adolescence and adulthood (e.g., Anderseen, Wold, & Torsheim, 2006). Most literature, however, leaves the impression that parental influence has only proximal importance (i.e., during childhood years), and that socialization outcomes are only experienced in the short term. This study utilized life course theory to examine if early parent-child relationships have a long-term impact on sport participation that endures into adulthood (e.g., Heard, 2007).

Methods

Seventeen NCAA Division I female head coaches participated in semi-structured interviews regarding parental influences on their sport involvement. Questions were derived from an interview guide developed specifically for this study. NVIVO 7 was used to analyze the data, using the method of agreement for coding and generating themes.

Analysis/Results

Consistent with the Expectancy-Value Model (Fredricks & Eccles, 2002), participants revealed three general mechanisms of sport socialization: a) role modeling, by providing positive reinforcement rather than pressuring achievement, b) providing experience, by allowing the individual to voice participation decisions, and c) interpreting experience. As providers and interpreters of sport experiences, the parents' actions reflected the larger socio-cultural context. Provider roles were gendered with active fathers and more passive mothers. The participants, however, also conveyed strong support from their mothers,in the form of “you need to take advantage of the opportunities I did not have.”

Conclusions

In testament to the evolving place of women, both parents interpreted sport for their daughters as an appropriate and desirable pursuit. With this interpretation, the women assessed their involvement in sport, developed preferences, and took advantage of opportunities accordingly (Sweet & Moen, 2006).