The Social Psychology of Sport

This book is written from the perspective of a social psychologist. As a conse­ quence, the topics covered in the upcoming chapters were chosen from among those traditionally of interest to the discipline of social psychology. A criterion for inclusion was the topic's usefulness in providing insights and/or understand­ ing ofthe social processes at work in sports settings. To this end, I have drawn ex­ tensively from mainstream journals in social psychology (e. g. , Journal of Per­ sonality and Social Psychology), and grounded the discussion of topics and issues on the methodologically sound studies/experiments they generally provide. There is also an equally strong interdisciplinary emphasis that features research from physical education, sociology, management science, and education. I have made a further attempt, not as successful as I would have liked, to incorporate a substan­ tial amount of the fine sports research that has been conducted overseas, particu­ larly in Europe and Australia. I am hopeful that in bringing together the works of international scholars from a variety of disciplines a clearer and balanced outline of this field will take shape. And now a word about the audience for this text and how to get the most from its pages. I would suggest that the reader have taken a course in social psychology following an introductory-level course. An introductory course in research methodology would also be helpful.