Idealized Functions of Sport: Religious and Political Socialization Through Sport

Abstract

This article focuses on the purported functioning of sport as a "symbolic refuge" in American society. In particular the paper considers the extent to which acceptance of the established structure of American sport and two dimensions of sports involvement are associated with religious conviction and political conservatism. Faith in God and in tradi tional American values and institutions are two consequences of involvement in sport claimed by the dominent American sports creed and emphasized by the symbolic aspects of major sports spectacles in America. Data were presented as an exploratory test of con nections between sports involvement and faith in God and country. The data were derived from a survey of students at two colleges in a small Northeastern state. It was found that religious conviction and political conservatism were in no way related to one of the dimen sions of sports involvement, sports enthusiasm, and that political conservatism was weakly related to the other dimension, past sports success. It also was found that accep tance of the established structure of sport was associated both with religious conviction and political conservatism. Interpretations of the statistically significant findings in this research had to be qualified on the basis of difference in sex, state of residence, and/or college.

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