Background/Purpose
It is often believed that sports participation contributes to character development. For this to be true, it is imperative that athletes learn to make ethical decisions while participating in sports. This study examined the sports decision-making of former high school athletes.
Method
Subjects were a convenience sample of 602 undergraduate college students who had minimally competed as high school athletes. Participants completed the Sports Decision Making Survey. Seven questions were related to demographic information while 15 questions presented sport scenarios. Respondents stated whether the situation was Clearly Ethical (1), Somewhat Ethical (2), Somewhat Unethical (3), or Clearly Unethical (4). The minimum score was 15 (questionable ethical standards) and the maximum was 60 (exceptional ethical standards).
Analysis/Results
Statistical analyses revealed both a difference in score by gender, F(1, 599) = 63.59; p = .000, and by highest level of sport participation, F(2, 590) = 3.43; p = .033. Females had a significantly higher ethical decision score (M=45.80, SD=6.44) when compared to males (M=41.37, SD=7.02). Post hoc analyses revealed significant differences among all levels of participation. Participants whose highest level of participation was in high school had the highest ethical decision score (M=43.66, SD=6.99) followed by college athletes (M=41.86, SD=7.37) and then professional athletes (M=36.67, SD=8.39). The person who most influenced the ethical decisions of the athletes were Parents/Family (42.1%), Coaches (31.1%), and Other Athletes (15.2%).
Conclusions
Clearly, ethics and ethical decision-making should be addressed at all levels of sport participation. In addition, parents/families, coaches, and athletes should acknowledge their influence on impressionable athletes.