Sport participation has been recognized as an important socializing agent; the sport environment is considered a suitable setting for the development of social and moral values, particularly for youth. Therefore, it can be argued that participation in sport may reinforce understanding and respect of cultural diversity and foster the integration of migrants. In this paper, we review the existing literature on the integrative role of sport among individuals and groups with differing cultural backgrounds. The existing findings support the role sport may have in promoting integration; nonetheless, some controversy exists. On the one side, there is evidence suggesting that sport can promote interaction among people from different cultures, while also helping individuals maintain ties with their own cultural groups, thus facilitating the maintenance of their cultural heritage. On the other side, there are also indications that sport participation may accentuate cultural differences, thus evoking tensions. Therefore, it appears that sport participation per se may not have the strength to achieve the anticipated integration; rather, sport would provide a common ground where integration can be cultivated. Future directions are discussed to encourage the development of research that enhances further our understanding on the integrative role of sport in multicultural societies.

Research on the role of sport as a social integrative agent for migrants has provided equivocal results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between ethnic-cultural identity and sport environmental factors. Young migrant male athletes from two different societal and sport contexts were studied: migrants from Eastern European countries living in Greece (n = 60) and from Latin America living in Spain (n = 60). Participants completed measures of ethnic and cultural identity, task-oriented motivational climate, and autonomysupportive coaching behaviour. Analysis of variance revealed that Eastern European inhabitants of Greece scored higher on fringe and assimilation, and lower on lack of interaction compared to Latin American inhabitants of Spain. In addition, for the former group, a mastery motivational climate and autonomy-supportive coaching predicted an integrative identity, whereas for the latter group, the motivational environment did not predict acculturation patterns. The results suggest that sport may serve different acculturation purposes, thus explaining to a degree the lack of consistent results regarding the integrative role of sport. The study provides preliminary support for the importance of the sport motivational environment for the facilitation of integration.

No abstract

Usage of any items from the University of Cumbria's institutional repository 'Insight' must conform to the following fair usage guidelines. Any item and its associated metadata held in the University of Cumbria's institutional repository Insight (unless stated otherwise on the metadata record) may be copied, displayed or performed, and stored in line with the JISC fair dealing guidelines (available here) for educational and notforprofit activities provided that • the authors, title and full bibliographic details of the item are cited clearly when any part of the work is referred to verbally or in the written form • a hyperlink/URL to the original Insight record of that item is included in any citations of the work • the content is not changed in any way • all files required for usage of the item are kept together with the main item file. You may not • sell any part of an item • refer to any part of an item without citation • amend any item or contextualise it in a way that will impugn the creator's reputation • remove or alter the copyright statement on an item. The full policy can be found here.

No abstract

No abstract

Previous research has shown that an empowering motivational climate in organized sport has been linked to attitudes favoring migrants’ integration. The purpose of the present study was to further test the relationship between motivational climate and acculturation attitudes, and to explore the role of prosocial skills as potential mediators of this relationship in adolescent athletes from the host population. Participants were 338 (13.61 ± .95 years of age) Greek adolescents (167 girls) participating in organized sport. Participants’ acculturation attitudes, prosocial skills, and perceptions of the coach‐created motivational climate were measured. Analysis of structural models revealed that an empowering motivational climate was positively related with prosocial skills, reflecting empathy and altruism, which in turn were positively linked with acculturation attitudes favoring migrants’ integration. The results of the present study replicate previous findings regarding the links between empowering motivational climate and acculturation attitudes, and further, provide evidence that prosocial skills such as empathy and altruism mediate this relationship.

No abstract