The Morally Dumb Jock: Reexamining Psychological Evidence on Athletes and Moral Reasoning

• In Event: 41.083 - Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 41.083-14 - Moral Development and Measurement

Abstract

Participation in sport has long been touted as necessary for the development of “good character” in youth. Recent research, however, suggests that athletes exhibit less mature moral reasoning than their non-athlete peers and that the sport arena encourages egocentrism at the expense of fair play and others’ welfare, which degrades participants’ moral sensibilities. The current study re-examines these claims through the lens of social domain theory. Male and female NCAA athletes and non-athlete undergrads were asked to evaluate harm-causing acts in both sport and non-sport contexts. Findings indicate that athletes are not morally deficient and that differences in reasoning about moral matters reflects instead a coordination of considerations in both moral and non-moral domains.

Author

• K. Amy Banas, University of California - Berkeley