The sociology of sport
Part I
hero noun 1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
Sports culture in a modern sense has developed significantly from the era of Aztec ball games and Roman blood sports to an almost unhealthy extent. Our contemporary view of sporting persons is somewhat misconstrued, allowing the term “hero” to be thrown around in conversation quite loosely. Adultery, substance abuse and irresponsible behaviour occur everywhere, every day, all over the world. Sometimes, our sporting “heroes” display negativities like these and are ridiculed and scorned for regularities, even if they are terrible regularities. Sports stars of today rarely demonstrate the qualities of a real …show more content…
In 2008, psychologist Shira Gabriel conducted an experiment in an attempt to quantify the influence of celebrity worship. Gabriel had 348 college students take part in a self-esteem survey, followed by an essay on their favourite celebrity. The results presented a link between low self-esteem, and a deeper knowledge of certain celebrities. Students who scored the lowest on the self-esteem test scored much higher writing about their favourite celebrities. The Absorption Addiction Model, which can explain celebrity worship, suggests that fans with a weak sense of self and identity issues try to establish a sense of fulfillment by becoming engrossed in their favorite celebrities. Adolescents use media outlets to search for attributes in sports people they wish to obtain. They can identify with a sports star, and over time through media exposure, grow fond of that person and want to be like him / her. These interactions can be expressed as parasocial relationships, and while harboring some positive effects, they also provide a plethora of detrimental impacts. Parasocial relationships can cause one to become addicted to a certain celebrity’s media outputs, and can incite wishful identification. Some studies even show that these relationships provide a basis for aggression issues and herald negative consequences in the case of a breakup of the parasocial
Part I
hero noun 1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
Sports culture in a modern sense has developed significantly from the era of Aztec ball games and Roman blood sports to an almost unhealthy extent. Our contemporary view of sporting persons is somewhat misconstrued, allowing the term “hero” to be thrown around in conversation quite loosely. Adultery, substance abuse and irresponsible behaviour occur everywhere, every day, all over the world. Sometimes, our sporting “heroes” display negativities like these and are ridiculed and scorned for regularities, even if they are terrible regularities. Sports stars of today rarely demonstrate the qualities of a real …show more content…
In 2008, psychologist Shira Gabriel conducted an experiment in an attempt to quantify the influence of celebrity worship. Gabriel had 348 college students take part in a self-esteem survey, followed by an essay on their favourite celebrity. The results presented a link between low self-esteem, and a deeper knowledge of certain celebrities. Students who scored the lowest on the self-esteem test scored much higher writing about their favourite celebrities. The Absorption Addiction Model, which can explain celebrity worship, suggests that fans with a weak sense of self and identity issues try to establish a sense of fulfillment by becoming engrossed in their favorite celebrities. Adolescents use media outlets to search for attributes in sports people they wish to obtain. They can identify with a sports star, and over time through media exposure, grow fond of that person and want to be like him / her. These interactions can be expressed as parasocial relationships, and while harboring some positive effects, they also provide a plethora of detrimental impacts. Parasocial relationships can cause one to become addicted to a certain celebrity’s media outputs, and can incite wishful identification. Some studies even show that these relationships provide a basis for aggression issues and herald negative consequences in the case of a breakup of the parasocial