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Social Perception on Professional Athletes

Anfal Alomar

Mississippi College

Abstract

In the society, there are quite a number of perceptions that you will find regarding the professional sporting. Normally, the professional participants tend to draw a lot of attention when they have won a race or any match. Other times, it is the negative things that will catch the attention of the general public. All the positive and negative aspects presented to the public are particularly what help in shaping the kind of perception that will be attributed to the professional athletes. In the society, the professional athletes are expected to portray good images as they happen to be the role model of the society in general as well as other participants who have not yet attained such positions (Pappas, 2011). There are particular athletes who have engaged themselves in bad behaviors which are considered totally negative and this changes the perception of the society towards the whole professional sport category. With increased variation in social perception towards the professional athletes, there is indeed the need to determine the connection of the negative behaviors by the athletes and their effect to the society. As the societies’ perceived role models, their every step is usually watched and communicated to the public. This report therefore will provide a basic overview on the subject matter. The research will also provide a rationale for the need to have such investigation (Delaney, 2008). The paper will further provide findings from different authors on the subject for comparison. Being a crucial aspect in the society, the paper will also provide the main implications of the findings to management. Lastly, the paper will provide a summary of the findings regarding the topic.

Social Perception on Professional Athletes

Introduction

There are certain perceptions that are associated with the negative actions portrayed by the professional athletes. Normally, there has been a common perception that most of the sports people are viewed to be role models and that they have a positive impact upon individuals as well as the broader community in general. This perception has hence resulted into a number of programs getting instituted in areas with prominent and successful athletes and other sports people have got their promotions to the community as being their role model for the purpose of influencing the sports participation rates (Pitney, 2006).

As role models therefore, to a wide number of people, it is usually common that they try to behave in a manner that pleases the fans and everyone watching them. Nevertheless, there are negative behaviors which have specifically been associated with the professional athletes, which have slowly changed the social perception on them as the role models. The positive behaviors usually draw a positive attention from the fans while the negative behavior communicate a negative message to the society in general and this alters their reputation based on the issue at hand.

Rationale for investigation

Negative behaviors particularly in form of crimes have been a major issue for the professional athletes. Some people still feel that the connection of crime and professional athletes is just a myth. This kind of myth regarding the professional athletes and crimes mainly arises because it is usually easier to cite examples for some of the professionals who have been involved in negative behaviors.

It is only sensible that all the professional athletes are perceived to be committing so many crimes particularly because at every time they do, they always make news (Marchand, 2007). Regardless of the magnitude of the act that an athlete has engaged in, it is usually brought to light by the media and thus becomes subject to criticism by the general public. The manner in which it has been brought to the public also determines how the society in general will view it. Therefore, this is the same kind of thinking that will make the society believe that every athlete in the professional category is prone to commit such acts.

Definitely, at the high-profile, the big money world of all professional sport, whatever incident caused by a player usually creates potential disaster. The pro players especially those considered stars by the society end up becoming the people that market machines and even promote and hawk things ranging from clothing, electronics to automobiles. This means that they appear more to the public, as trusted mediators to bring a certain message to the public. This also means that any single misstep will bear a greater consequence for the others when it gets committed by the well known athletes.

For instance, one of the professional athletes was identified as having had demonstrated very negative off-field behavior by acting in an aggressive way and really crossed the line through having committed a domestic assault to the wife, who was newlywed. Such kind of an abusive behavior is usually very damaging in a variety of ways (Ingham, 2008).

This is because it will harm the athlete’s image and will also create an unnecessary attention which the particular athlete does not require. Every person in the society will be interested in knowing more about the athlete and this attention usually results into negative publicity.

In addition to this, it usually craws negative attention to the team mates as well as the professional organization and this will eventually create the atmosphere of drama. Further, such a behavior usually creates the negative persona on the professional athletes and thus creating a stigma where all the professional athletes are considered as bad people. Therefore, all these factors provide a justification for finding more information on the issue. Findings needs to be realized which gives the true nature of the situation, the implications of the acts and what could be done in any case.

Literature review

Normally, the social media usually intensifies this negative image through projecting the particular abusive image of the athlete into the television, radio, internet as well as print media. With time, the sponsors start detaching themselves from the athlete, basically because it is only normal that they would not be associated with such an athlete. Generally, the professional athletes are usually expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner. This is because they are considered by the general public as being idols, role models as well as people to look up to (Horn, 2008).

Most the images that the standards are set for them are usually impossible to be attained. Most of these athletes crack under pressure of being positioned as the spotlight and simply are unable to take the kind of pressure. In turn, most of them end up turning into drugs as well as alcohol for the purpose of numbing the pain.

In addition, some might even turn into sex as well as other extramarital affairs for the purpose of dealing with that kind of pressure. Unfortunately, whichever way that they will turn to, it is mostly negative and once recognized brings a more damaged reputation upon the athlete, which usually worsens the situation.

In addition, in the society there is usually no sufficient time that allows the negative behavior to get excused in the society. This is because there would be no excuses for the professionals not to make positive choices during their professional career. In essence, it does not make sense when they use the pressure of being positioned as the spotlight to be the excuse for any negative behavior (Owens, 2000).

These excuses will give chance for the behaviors to be tolerated even in future and might not give the opportunity for addressing the real problem. This whole process does not enhance going to the root of the problem as well as finding the right solutions for them. With an opportunity to get the real cause of the problem, there is the likelihood to resolve the issues.

The established problem is that the entire athlete’s management, agents as well as coaches have not done sufficient work to help in the new as well as current athletes to cope with the pressure that comes with being under the spotlight. It is usually critical that the athletes find some positive ways of coping with the pressure from the society. They further need to be placed with the right group of people that are going to shape, mold as well as guide them on the way of their expectations in the society (Rote, 2009).

Normally, when a certain athlete is unable to cope with the pressure laid upon him, the organization as well as the management usually has the responsibility of providing the relevant tools that might help in the situation. Normally, there are sport psychologists as well as counselors who would help when they engage them into talking about it as well as offering solutions in cases when things seems to be too difficult to handle. The mental health at the professional arena is usually an area full of changes.

In most cases, fame as well as fortune that are involved in playing on any professional sport could really get to someone. It is quite common to have times when things might get out of hand and regardless of the situation, it is indeed true to conclude that there might have been a lot of criminals prevalent in the sporting world over the years with some cases being worse as compared to others.

Regardless of the degree of crime, coming from a professional player is quite detrimental to the society. Some of the athletes who have been listed for crimes really have gone past what is the normal crime (Sheth & Babiak, 2010).

There are some who committed some acts which are considered heinous which would be hard to imagine that at a point they were considered and perceived in a positive light on the world of sports. It is quite a shame that the people who are regarded as being the role models for the upcoming athletes have at a certain time been convicted of a particular crime, having all participated at the major professional sport.

Quite recently, two trophy winners off season behaviors had raised a lot of questions regarding the appropriateness in using athletes to be society’s role model. Normally, athletes work hard and also stay fit but might not always be enough to influence the society, particularly the children in a good way (Tuttle & Tuttle, 2004).

There is the dark side of the athletes which includes the use of steroid, the hard parting lifestyle as well as very poor sportsmanship which in most cases overshadows the athlete’s ability of playing their game. Therefore, for the society, it is usually significant to get the real picture on the influence that the athletes can have on the children’s lives.

Sportsmanship

From a survey that was conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation provided some clear findings on how most of the professional’s sportsmanship had been perceived by many children. About 74% presented that it is quite common for the pro athlete to go to an extent of yelling to the nearby referee (Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004).

About 62% presented that it is considered normal to have trash talking from the opponents side and about 46% presented that it is quite unlikely that athletes take the cheap shots at the opponents. These children also agreed that it was obvious to see the particular behaviors during playing the sports with their peers. This is indeed a spoiled-athlete mentality which might teach the children that there is nothing wrong in fighting, as long as it is meant to get something that one wants.

Fan relationship:

Fan relationship is one of the factors that can shape the social perception of a certain athlete. Fan relationship entails showing charisma to fans and interacting with fans. Fans admire and prefer the athlete that can share with them and let the fans feel him/her.

If an athlete has a good charisma, he/she will win the acceptance of the fans and the society at large. This results to the shaping of favorable social perceptions towards the athlete. Athletes with good fan relations are normally accepted as heroes and friends of the society. Such athletes are loved by their fans and they are highly appreciated.

However, when athletes keep poor fan relationship they harm their personality towards the fans. Those athletes who have poor fan relationship are branded as boastful and they tend to be frustrated by the fans. Poor fan relationship can result from communication abuse, failure to give back to the society or the failure to identify with the fans. When an athlete is unpopular, it means that he/she is rejected by the society’s social perception. This results to harming of the social personality of the athlete.

Fitness

Most of the professional athletes ends up teaching the children of the handwork that is involved in order to become the best and a star in any given sport. According to research by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was established that the children who are between age of 6 and 11 are usually considered to be obese. This is basically as a result of sedentary and the lifestyle involving only the video games.

Through looking up to the favorite athletes, these children could be a lot more inspired to get more involved in sports and might decide to stay active (Howard‐Hamilton & Sina 2001). This is a beneficial influence to the children as it could translate to impeccable work ethic as well as higher degree of fitness at the field. Nevertheless, any negative behaviors resulting from the same athletes might discourage these children at the same margin.

Drug use

Drug abuse is one the factors that negatively shape the social perception of the society towards an athlete. Drug abuse is normally called doping in sports and is against the rules of the sport. However, some athletes administer these drugs to themselves so as to improve on their performance in the field.

Drugs are generally considered as social menace and are always met with heated opposition. Whenever an athlete tests positive for doping, he is regarded as inauthentic because of using drugs to enhance performance. This harms the social perception which the society had to the athlete. The society begins to view the athlete negatively as being a cheating athlete. Drugs harm the social perception of the athletes to extreme limits that most consider quitting the sport will others even ending up with suicide.

It has been made known and quite common that most of the professional athletes make use of the performance enhancing drugs for the purpose of getting the edge at their opponents and this can unintentionally affect all the children that look up to them. There have been many suspensions of players that were discovered having used the banned performance enhancing substances.

Even though some of these athletes are continually setting records on various runs, the steroid substitute androstenedione showed to have increased on the sales (Fortunato & Gilbert, 2003). The steroid as well as the supplements which are used by the professional athletes usually sends message to the society as well as children in particular that it is allowed and justifiable to cheat as long as you end up becoming the best or are the best.

Lifestyle

Normally, the kind of lifestyle that the athletes usually lead based on a certain athlete could highly have mixed effect of the children. There are some athletes who truly work hard, are good in providing for their families and usually participate in a lot of charity work for their community.

On the other hand, there are others who only base their concentration on making money, getting endorsement deals and living the high life. In the society, the tricky thing in finding an athlete that is ideal as role model for the children is usually to find the one that one would like that their child be when they are adults (Donnor & Brown, 2011).

In most cases, an athlete who has been thought to be a perfect role model will engage themselves in a certain scandal which might affect the perception that the child has towards life and the athlete in general.

Moreover, the lifestyle of an athlete can be shaped by perceptions to be brand. This happens when the lifestyle of the athlete is admired by people who he/she interacts with. When the social perceptions favor the lifestyle of an athlete, his identity transforms to a brand. This is the reason why many advertisement companies use specific athletes for advertisement purposes.

A company will be compelled to identify with a certain athlete so as to attract those people who love the athletes. If an athlete is transformed to be a brand, this means that he/she has been accepted by the people on the basis of social perceptions. Social perceptions that can transform an athlete could e shaped by factors such as credible achievements by the athlete and charismatic personality (Ingham, 2008).

The identity of the athlete can also be shaped negatively if social perceptions do not favor the personality of the athlete. When social perceptions shape the personality of athlete negatively, he is transformed to a disgrace of the society. Negative social perceptions could be influenced by poor track performance of the athlete or poor conduct of the athlete.

The athlete could engage in unpopular activities that would affect his/her social personality negatively. Such common cases are normally drug abuse, indecent assault or communication abuse. Such unpopular conducts always repel the expectations of the society and hence shaping negatively the social perception of the society to the athlete. At this moment the social perception of the society towards the athlete transforms him/her to a disgrace (Ingham, 2008).

Influences of the athlete role models

Normally the athletes can provide both positive and negative influence which is dependent on either behaviors or utterances that they will display to the public. Research suggests that most of the athletes usually work hard in order to become positive role models and are mostly involved in good activities such as raising money for charities, talking to various student groups and also acting as mentors. On the other hand, the athletes can become negative role models and this is mainly through the inappropriate as well as unlawful actions which mostly receive a lot of media coverage.

Regardless of the fact that there has been this perception that such sports are a source of rich environment particularly in the development of children, there is as much anecdotal as well as empirical evidence that tends to negate the attitudes as well as practices of the athletes, mostly the men that have been promoted in particular sporting cultures (Howard‐Hamilton & Sina 2001). In particular sports, the male dominance through support of the patriarchal ideology is usually common and also through the media as well as other outputs, the children will mostly likely model their behavior on the actions of sportspeople.

Based on certain research through interviews and observations, boys usually develop cultures which mirror the macho models as well as general caricature of the traditional masculinity. This modeling behavior is usually not based on the player’s on-field conduct but also on the extra curricula activities whereby the athletes have shown bad behaviors either in the public places like the night clubs. Normally, the media plays a large role in how the athletes as role models will be perceived.

According to various newspapers, there are role models who were seen as heroes but with media intrusion in their lives, this notion changed with more non-sporting details are usually provided which will in most cases damage their reputation as being positive role model (Fortunato & Gilbert, 2003). There are many social problems which are highlighted by the media about certain athletes on their everyday activities and the negative ones usually include abusing of drugs as well as alcohol, domestic issues such as violence and even having extra marital affair affairs. Therefore, despite all these actions, the athletes will always be considered to have a lot of influence on the young children as their role models.

Generally, the profit of being a professional athlete has currently begun overshadowing the main talent that is involved in sports and children as well as society in general has started to notice this. Most of the players at the professional sports have the belief that they are single aspect to enhancing team’s success and this has rapidly swarmed children and also changed their overall view of the sports. The professional sports ought to demonstrate teamwork as well as how to become the team player (Ingham, 2008).

A large number of people who watch the favorite’s athlete media program will in most cases act in the ways that they see and this could be actually bad. These professionals are increasingly doing things that end up drawing much attention to them and you will find that most of the actions that get publicized are negative. The kind of life that the media is portraying regarding the professional athletes is usually conflicting to the young kids. This is because normally they are taught to act in one way, but will see their remodels acting in other ways.

The increased significance in the pro athletes as well as culture in the current culture has begun bringing about negative effects to the children as well as their futures. With the popularity of the pro sport progressing in its growth, it is likely that the culture will be based on the world of sports. The children will in future grow up watching athletes who idolize their every move. Based on the publicity which is associated with becoming a professional athlete, the athletes need to fully understand that their actions as well as what they do when they are out of the stadium will have a bigger effect on the children.

Most of the athletes are targets of the media and regardless of whether they win or lose, their performance as well as life is usually publicly dissected by the media (Cecić Erpič & Zupančič, 2004). This also contributes to the kind of perception that the society will have on the profession in general as well as the particular athletes.

Winning usually brings media glorification as well as expectation, together with critics and jealousy. On the other hand, losing brings with it negative judgment and increased criticism. Therefore, with a combination of many factors revolving around the life of professional athletes the social perception will always exist and be influenced by them.

Managerial implication

In the world of athletics, there are different organizations which volunteer to support and nurture the promising athletes. Besides these organizations, the athletes are often associated with particular teams which are governed and managed by higher bodies. All these tend to have a certain expectation from the athletes being supported and thus set policies and guidelines which should be followed to be contained within the team (Pappas, 2011).

With negative behaviors from the athletes by the whole society there is a certain degree of implication to the management. These management bodies are usually the initiators of certain pressures that require the athletes to conduct themselves in a certain manner as the spotlight and role models of the society.

Further, they are always responsible for creating expectations that they shine and win most of their races. With such expectation, they contribute to the athletes wanting to get involved in the negative behaviors in order to attain the standards, like the use of drugs.

Nevertheless, once the athletes chose to engage themselves in such behaviors or conduct themselves in a manner that brings disgrace to their team or affects their reputation, the management is always affected (Pitney, 2006). The management thus takes the responsibility of suspending the athletes or banning them from participating in their team.

Being a valued athlete, it might be a challenge for the team but the management is left with no choice as they also want to protect the team. Some of the behaviors usually the management does not have any control of and it negatively affects the reputation of both parties. Therefore, despite the kind of effect that these professional athletes have to the society, this perception extends to the management and risks a lot of negativity in publicity which might harm the team in general.

Conclusion

To sum it up, there are varied perceptions which are attributed to the participants in the professional sports. All these social perceptions have been built based on the varied behaviors by the participants. The professional athletes have engaged themselves in some negative behaviors and thus, having been perceived as the role models of the society and particularly the children, the behaviors usually create negative impacts which with time change the perception on the athletes in general and the behaviors.

Some children grow knowing that it is alright to do some things, as long as they know what they want to achieve (Rote, 2009). Different priorities are being set by children following the kind of image that they see their role models create and this is bad. The media has contributed highly to this kind of perception based on the information that it presents to the people.

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