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A recent study from the Ohio State University shows many Americans have faced some sort of sport-related mistreatment, even if they never played in organized sports.
The study, published in the International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, survey data on 3,849 adults who participated in the National Sports and Society Survey, which was sponsored by Ohio State’ Sports and Society Initiative. They answered questions online between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019.
The study shows nearly 40% of adults in America said they’ve face sport-related mistreatment, ranging from psychological and emotional to physical and sexual. Many of them reported experiencing mistreatment of more than one kind.
“Many people talk about how they hated middle school or high school because of recess or gym class and the abuse or shame they felt playing sports in that environment,” said Chris Knoester, co-author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. “It just speaks to the pervasiveness of sport-related mistreatment in our society that we document in this research.”
Survey respondents have to answer the question, “have you ever been mistreated in your sports interactions?” Nearly 40% respondent yes, but they weren’t asked in what context they were mistreated. Researchers say the fact that many of them said they haven’t played in organized sports suggests the mistreatment could have happened during school recess, gym classes, among peers or even while watching sports.
The most common form of mistreatment was psychological or emotional, which was cited by 64% of those who said they were mistreated. One-quarter of those reporting mistreatment said it was physical in nature and 10% said it was sexual.
“The amount of mistreatment people report is remarkable. It really stands in contrast to the myth that sports are all good and wholesome and positive for those who play,” Knoester said.
However, the most common reason people say they were mistreated was because of the their weight, which was cited by 52% of respondents.
“Physical education classes and recess put your bodies on display in ways that don’t happen too commonly otherwise,” he noted. “And obviously weight is something that people observe and classmates or people in public may be quick to mistreat or ridicule others if their weight doesn’t conform to cultural expectations.”
Additionally, students who succeeded in academics and wasn’t involved athletically reported more mistreatment. More competitive settings also seemed to conjure more mistreatment.
Among the respondents, men and white people were more likely to face sports-related mistreatment. Knoester said this may be because previous studies have shown that Black people reported positive environments in sports, and that for men, the culture of masculinity may contribute to the mistreatment. Knoester said this includes ridicule, fighting, hazing and other forms of mistreatment that are more common for men than they are for women.
Knoester said the results could underestimate how much sports-related mistreatment occurs.
“These were adults remembering events from their childhood, so there may be a problem with recall,” he said. “And Americans are generally positive about sports, so they may not be inclined to report bad things that happened to them in that context.”
Overall, Knoester hopes the study brings awareness to the issue.
“Sports-related interactions aren’t always positive. I think it is important to better understand how frequently negative interactions occur and what we can do as a society to improve the culture of sports, otherwise there is not a means in place for betterment,” he said.
