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

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