Identity Development

Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Martin

As athletes invest their time and energy into sport and it becomes a meaningful part of their self-concept they simultaneously develop an athletic identity. This chapter discusses psychological and sociological research on athletic identity development. One robust finding throughout the literature is that often athletes see themselves as athletes more strongly than the public does. The public’s reluctance to acknowledge that athletes with disabilities are real athletes reflects how disability sport is often marginalized. Research shows that sometimes former able-bodied athletes decline to participate in disability sport or seek out a sport different from the one they engaged in when able-bodied. Some athletes claim to be elite disability sport athletes in order to have an “elite” athletic identity. Other athletes with disabilities do not acknowledge disability sport and embrace an elite athlete identity. Within this context, the chapter incorporates relevant theory and psychological processes to identify plausible mechanisms underlying athletes’ decisions about whether to participate in sport and what to call themselves when they do.

Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Martin

A common stereotype in the disability literature is known as the supercrip, or someone who overcomes their disability in ways that are often seen by the public as inspiring. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the supercrip identity among athletes in disability sport settings. The supercrip stereotype has been criticized as portraying athletes with disabilities as overcoming or defeating their disability via heroic efforts. Often the accomplishments they are praised for are superior gold-medaling winning performances, but more mundane tasks such as going shopping are also praised. Excessive praise for engaging in everyday activities is thought to reflect low expectations about what a person with a disability can do. Many individuals view their impairment as part of their identity and not something to overcome or defeat. Supercrip-related praise for Paralympians can unrealistically raise expectations for all people with disabilities, including many who cannot do many of the things athletes with disabilities can do. The chapter discusses reasons for the supercrip identity, whether it is inspiring, and nuanced commentaries on the supercrip identity by academics, coaches, and athletes in disability sport.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Martin

Some of the first research in disability sport focused on athletic identity using the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS). A large body of research has supported a robust finding that athletes with disabilities view themselves as legitimate athletes, whereas they believe that others (e.g., the able-bodied public) do not view them as athletes as strongly. This chapter examines descriptive and correlational research completed with the AIMS. Descriptive work indicates Paralympians relative to recreational athletes have stronger athletic identities. Correlational research indicates that athletes with strong athletic identities are more competitive and confident and have stronger sport intentions. At the same time, athletes with exclusive athletic identities may be at risk for experiencing negative affect when unable to play. Athletes may disinvest in sport and an athletic identity as their skills wane and they anticipate no longer participating in sport. While a disinvestment in athletic identity can be viewed as a self-esteem protective strategy it might also have negative performance ramifications.


2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne A. Nasco ◽  
William M. Webb

The link between a strong identification with the athletic self-concept and well-being, commitment, and effort in athletes has been established in numerous research projects. However, current measures of athletic identity do not specifically acknowledge the public and private aspects of the athlete role and their differential influence on behavior. The goal of the present project was to create a short, psychometrically sound scale that measured these dimensions. Our scale (Public-Private Athletic Identity Scale; PPAIS) was validated using over 1,000 nonathletes, recreational athletes, current collegiate athletes, and retired athletes. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to establish the structure of the scale and examined validity by comparing and contrasting the PPAIS with other existing athletic identity measures. Regressions also were used to show that the PPAIS enhances prediction of behavioral measures over other identity scales.


Author(s):  
OLEKSANDR STEGNII

The paper analyses specific features of sociological data circulation in a public space during an election campaign. The basic components of this kind of space with regard to sociological research are political actors (who put themselves up for the election), voters and agents. The latter refer to professional groups whose corporate interests are directly related to the impact on the election process. Sociologists can also be seen as agents of the electoral process when experts in the field of electoral sociology are becoming intermingled with manipulators without a proper professional background and publications in this field. In a public space where an electoral race is unfolding, empirical sociological research becomes the main form of obtaining sociological knowledge, and it is primarily conducted to measure approval ratings. Electoral research serves as an example of combining the theoretical and empirical components of sociological knowledge, as well as its professional and public dimensions. Provided that sociologists meet all the professional requirements, electoral research can be used as a good tool for evaluating the trustworthiness of results reflecting the people’s expression of will. Being producers of sociological knowledge, sociologists act in two different capacities during an election campaign: as analysts and as pollsters. Therefore, it is essential that the duties and areas of responsibility for professional sociologists should be separated from those of pollsters. Another thing that needs to be noted is the negative influence that political strategists exert on the trustworthiness of survey findings which are going to be released to the public. Using the case of approval ratings as an illustration, the author analyses the most common techniques aimed at misrepresenting and distorting sociological data in the public space. Particular attention is given to the markers that can detect bogus polling companies, systemic violations during the research process and data falsification.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25242644 ◽  
pp. 63-68
Author(s):  
Alina Lisnevska

The myth-making processes in the communicative space are the «cornerstone» of ideology at all times of mankind’s existence. One of the tools of the effective impact of propaganda is trust in information. Today this come round due to the dissemination of information on personalized video content in social networks, including through converged media. New myths and social settings are creating, fate of the countries is being solved, public opinion is being formed. It became possible to create artificially a model of social installation using the myths (the smallest indivisible element of the myth) based on real facts, but with the addition of «necessary» information. In the 20–30 years of the XX century cinematograph became the most powerful screen media. The article deals with the main ideological messages of the Ukrainian Soviet film «Koliivshchyna» (1933). In the period of mass cinematography spread in the Soviet Ukraine, the tape was aimed at a grand mission – creation of a new mythology through the interpretation of the true events and a con on the public, propaganda of the Soviet ideology. This happened in the tragic period of Ukrainian history (1933, the Holodomor) through the extrapolation of historical truth and its embodiment in the most formative form at that time – the form of the screen performance. The Soviet authorities used the powerful influence of the screen image to propagate dreams, illusions, images, stereotypes that had lost any reference to reality. I. Kavaleridze’s film «Koliivshchyna» demonstrates the interpretation of historical events and national ideas, the interpretation of a relatively remote past through the ideology of the «Soviet-era». The movie is created as a part of the political conjuncture of the early 1930s: the struggle against Ukrainian «bourgeois nationalism» and against the «Union of Liberation Ukraine», the repressive policies against the peasants, the close-out of the «back to the roots» policy. The movie, on the one hand, definitely addresses to the Ukrainian ideas, on the other hand it was made at the period of the repressions against the Ukrainian peasantry. In the movie «Koliivshchyna», despite the censorship, I. Kavaleridze manages to create a national inclusive narrative that depicts Ukrainian space as multi-ethnic and diverse, but at the same time nationally colorful.


APRIA Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
José Teunissen

In the last few years, it has often been said that the current fashion system is outdated, still operating by a twentieth-century model that celebrates the individualism of the 'star designer'. In I- D, Sarah Mower recently stated that for the last twenty years, fashion has been at a cocktail party and has completely lost any connection with the public and daily life. On the one hand, designers and big brands experience the enormous pressure to produce new collections at an ever higher pace, leaving less room for reflection, contemplation, and innovation. On the other hand, there is the continuous race to produce at even lower costs and implement more rapid life cycles, resulting in disastrous consequences for society and the environment.


Author(s):  
Dirk Voorhoof

The normative perspective of this chapter is how to guarantee respect for the fundamental values of freedom of expression and journalistic reporting on matters of public interest in cases where a (public) person claims protection of his or her right to reputation. First it explains why there is an increasing number and expanding potential of conflicts between the right to freedom of expression and media freedom (Article 10 ECHR), on the one hand, and the right of privacy and the right to protection of reputation (Article 8 ECHR), on the other. In addressing and analysing the European Court’s balancing approach in this domain, the characteristics and the impact of the seminal 2012 Grand Chamber judgment in Axel Springer AG v. Germany (no. 1) are identified and explained. On the basis of the analysis of the Court’s subsequent jurisprudence in defamation cases it evaluates whether this case law preserves the public watchdog-function of media, investigative journalism and NGOs reporting on matters of public interest, but tarnishing the reputation of public figures.


Author(s):  
Michael P. Lynch

This chapter argues that academic freedom is justified because it is an inherently epistemic practice that serves the ideals of democracy. With Dewey, it is argued that “The one thing that is inherent and essential [to the idea of a university] is the ideal of truth.” But far from being apolitical, the value of pursuing truth and knowledge—the value that justifies academic freedom, both within and without the public mind—is a fundamental democratic value, and for three reasons: the practices of academic inquiry exemplify rational inquiry of the kind needed for democratic deliberation; those practices serve to train students to pursue that kind of inquiry; and those practices are important engines of democratic dissent.


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