Moral Reasoning in the Context of Sport

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 53
  In Roundtable Session: Moral Development and Education in Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Current research on intercollegiate athletics and morality concludes that athletes have “less mature” moral reasoning and that sport participation itself can be detrimental to moral development, thus stigmatizing athletes as morally dumb jocks and sports as fostering aggressive egocentrism. By examining decision-making about physical harm in NCAA student-athletes and non-athlete undergraduates, our research both addresses gaps in the previous literature and finds evidence suggesting the need to reframe the current deficit view of student-athletes in favor of one that sees them as rather adept at navigating a complex social environment, including moral concerns.

Authors

• Amy Banas, University of California - Berkeley

• Elliot Turiel, Univesity of California