Performing Toughness: The Professionalization of Division I College Athletics and The Glorification of The “Championship Culture”.

• In Event: Joint Roundtables: Social Psychology Section and Sociology of Emotions Section
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 2 - Organizations & Work

Abstract

This research examines the ongoing professionalization of Division I college athletics, how it shapes student-athletes' experiences, cultural performance, meaning how they display and reproduce the values and norms that define the culture of college sports, perception of this culture and how they feel and emotionally respond. Very few studies explore the everyday lives of student-athletes in a surveillance structure like Division I athletics and how this structure shapes athletes' experiences in their roles. Also, this research examines the emotional consequences of student-athletes, especially in terms of toughness or "Championship culture". I combine the concepts of glorification, surveillance, emotion work into a single framework. Using an inductive research method, I conducted 33 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Division I student-athletes across the country. Analyses revealed that overall, Division I student-athletes glorify their culture, which in turn normalizes pressure and stress. Therefore, they accept and internalize surveillance that this culture implies as part of the process and to conform to the culture of athletics. Finally, it is through emotion work that student-athletes adapt to this culture. The study reveals that emotional labor is central to building the "championship culture," as athletes regulate emotions to display toughness, gratitude, and resilience. In doing so, this research highlights how college sport operates as both an institution of opportunity and a system of emotional control that reproduces its own ideals over time.

Author

• Angelique Ceccon, University of South Florida