Faculty attitudes toward intercollegiate athletics and student athletes

Abstract

Throughout history men have been divided into groups, and attitudes have often been formed according to these groups. This study examined the attitudes of faculty members, as a group, toward intercollegiate athletics and student athletes. Three concepts were used to analyze the data. First, Rokeach's idea of attitudes-toward-an-object verses attitudes-toward-a-situation was utilized. Second, Allport's Contact Hypothesis was tested. Third, Sumner's notion of the in-group was incorporated.

Types of analysis used were Chi square, regression, and Pearson r correlation. The analysis revealed several interesting things. The initial finding was that faculty members were unable to distinguish between the object (student athletes) and the situation (intercollegiate athletics) in terms of their attitudes. Other results indicated that the experience of attending athletic events was the best predictor of attitudes. Those subjects who attended games frequently had less negative, or slightly more positive, attitudes than other subjects. It was also found that subjects, other than the avid spectators, had very little variance in their attitudes. The results of this study have important implications for defining the role of intercollegiate athletics in the university setting.