Hazing is any degrading or abusive behavior required to be socially accepted on a sports team. Theoretically, hazing is a symptom of the hierarchy and social dominance of the sport environment. The current study examined the influence of competitive level, gender, athletic identity, sport type, and team norms on participating in mild hazing, severe hazing, and positive initiations. High school (n = 126) and college athletes (n = 161) from a variety of sports completed an online survey. Approximately 50% of the sample participated in either a mild and/or severe hazing act. Three logistic regression analyses indicated that greater team norms and being a college student increased the odds of experiencing a mild hazing, severe hazing, or a positive initiation ritual. Sport psychology consultants and coaches need to proactively work to change degrading norms of hazing to joyful norms emphasizing respect and unity.
CrowR. and MacIntoshE. W., Conceptualizing a Meaningful Definition of Hazing in Sport. European Sport Management Quarterly, 2009, 433–451.
3.
CampoS.PoulosG. and SippleJ. W., Prevalence and Profiling: Hazing Among College Students and Points of Intervention, American Journal of Health Behavior, 2005, 29(2), 137–149.
4.
BryshunJ., Hazing in Sport: An Exploratory Study of Veteran/Rookie Relations, Master's Thesis, University of Calgary, 1997
5.
JohnsonJ., Through the Liminal: A Comparative Analysis of Communitas and Rites of Passage in Sport Hazing and Initiations, Canadian Journal of Sociology, 2011, 36, 199–227.
6.
CiminoA., The Evolution of Hazing: Motivational Mechanisms and the Abuse of Newcomers, Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2011, 11, 241–267.
7.
WaldronJ. J. and KowalskiC., Crossing the Line: Rites Of Passage, Team Aspects, and Ambiguity of Hazing, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 2009, 80, 291–302.
8.
Van RaalteJ. L.CorneliusA. E.LinderD. E. and BrewerB. W., The Relationship Between Hazing and Team Cohesion. The Journal of Sport Behavior, 2007, 30, 491–507.
9.
WaldronJ. J.LynnQ. and KraneV., Duct Tape, Icy Hot, & Paddles: Male Athlete Hazing Narratives. Sport, Education, and Society, 2010, 16, 111–125.
10.
HolmanM., A Search for Theoretical Understanding of Hazing Practices in Athletics, in: JohnsonJ. and HolmanM., ed., Making the Team: Inside the World of Sport Initiations and Hazing, Canadian Scholar's Press, Toronto, Canada, 2004, 50–60.
11.
AndersonE.McCormackM. and LeeH., Male Team Hazing Initiations in a Culture of Decreasing Homohysteria. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2012, 27, 427–448.
12.
LenskyjH. J., What's Sex Got to Do with It? Analysing The Sex + Violence Agenda in Sport Hazing Practices, in: JohnsonJ. and HolmanM., ed., Making the Team: Inside the World of Sport Initiations and Hazing, Canadian Scholar's Press, Toronto, Canada, 2004, 83–96.
13.
KeatingC. F.PomerantzJ.PommerS. D.RittS. J. H.MillerL. M. and McCormickJ., Going to College and Unpacking Hazing: A Functional Approach to Decrypting Initiation Practices Among Undergraduates, Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2005, 9, 104–126.
14.
BryshunJ. and YoungK., Sport-Related Hazing: An Inquiry into Male and Female Involvement, in: WhiteP. and YoungK.K., ed., Sport and Gender in Canada, Oxford University Press, Don Mills, Canada, 1999, 267–292.
15.
JohnsonJ., Are Sisters Doing it For Themselves? An Analysis of Gender and the Sport Initiation Ceremony, Journal of Canadian Women Studies, 2002, 21(3), 125–131.
16.
CoakleyJ., ed., Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies, 10th edn., McGraw-Hill, Boston, 2009.
17.
HughesR. and CoakleyJ., (1991). Deviant Overconformity among Athletes: Implications of Overconformity to the Sport Ethic, Sociology of Sport Journal, 1991, 8, 307–325.
18.
WaldronJ. J. and KraneV., Whatever it Takes: Health Compromising Behaviors in Female Athletes, Quest, 2005, 57, 315–329.
19.
AllanE. J. and MaddenM., The Nature and Extent of College Student Hazing, in: SrabsteinJ. C. J. C. and MerrickJ., eds., Bullying: A Public Health Concern, Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY, 2013, 103–117.
20.
WaldronJ. J., A Team Norms Approach to Hazing Prevention Workshops, Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 2012, 3, 1–9.
21.
BrewerB. W.Van RaalteJ. L. and LinderD. E., Athletic Identity: Hercules' Muscles or Achilles Heel?, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1993, 24, 237–254.
22.
SteinfeldtM. and SteinfeldtJ. A., Athletic Identity and Conformity to Masculine Norms among Football Players, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2012, 24, 115–128.
GershelJ. C.Katz-SidlowR. J.SmallE. and ZandiehS., Hazing of Suburban Middle School and High School Athletes, Journal of Adolescent Health, 2003, 32, 333–335.
28.
MessnerM. A., Taking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2002.
29.
JohnsonJ. and MillerP., Changing the Initiation Ritual, in: JohnsonJ. and HolmanM., ed., Making the Team: Inside the World of Sport Initiations and Hazing, Canadian Scholar's Press, Toronto, Canada, 2004, 155–166.
30.
ConroyD.SilvaJ.NewcomerR.WalkerB. and JohnsonM., The Role of Socialization in the Perceived Legitimacy of Aggressive Sport Behavior, Aggressive Behavior, 2001, 27, 405–418.
