Acculturation through sport: Different contexts different meanings

Abstract

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.

Empowering youth sport and acculturation: Examining the hosts’ perspective in Greek adolescents

“…In contrast, a disempowering climate characterized by a performance climate and controlling coaching behavior was negatively related to multiculturalism attitudes. The results coincide with previous findings conducted with migrant populations that identified links between factors of the sport climate, and in particular mastery climate and autonomy supportive coaching, and ethnic-cultural identity in young migrant athletes (Elbe et al, 2016). Papaioannou, Zourbanos, Krommidas and Ampatzoglou (2012) argued for the beneficial influence of a mastery motivational climate for both the individuals and society.…”

“…They found that team cohesion could negatively predict feelings of fringe and lack of interaction with members of the host culture. A similar study by Elbe et al (2016) found that the motivational climate and particularly mastery climate and autonomy support were linked to an adaptive integrative profile in male adolescent migrants.…”

“…Previous research has shown that in some cases migrants have opportunities to choose to either take part in sport activities with the people from the host culture, attempting to enhance interaction with the mainstream population, or to participate in sports with individuals coming from the same ethnic and cultural background, attempting to strengthen their ethnic identity (Stodolska & Alexandris, 2004). However, in Greece migrants who wish to participate in organized sport have to join sport teams where the vast majority of athletes are native Greeks, since pure ethnic sport teams do not exist (Elbe et al, 2016), thus maximizing the opportunities for cultural interaction with the host population. However, this reduces the chances that sport can be a field for strengthening their ethnic identity, since it is not likely to socialize with members of their own culture, which is equally important for achieving integration.…”

“…Moreover, Kolovelonis et al (2015) Finally, based on the above propositions and in relation to the particular cultural context of the study some suggestions are worth mentioning. The Greek context shows a lack of ethnic clubs which is not the case in other countries like Spain, for example (Elbe et al, 2016). Ethnic clubs are sometimes more attractive for migrants because they offer opportunities to strengthen their ethnic identity and because migrants sometimes feel more comfortable in such clubs.…”

Integration of immigrant youth in Sweden: does sport participation really have an impact?

“…In the current study, we use the Swedish version of an EU funded longitudinal project called Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in four countries (CILS4EU; Dollmann et al, 2014) to analyse longitudinal relations between organized sport participation and indicators of integration (e.g., problem behaviours and amount of Swedish friends). The Swedish part of CILS4EU was carried out over two years across three measurement points in schools all over Sweden.…”