Mindfulness,sport and the body: the justification of physical education revisited

This paper offers a preliminary account of the educative potential of mindfulness by revisiting the long-debated status of physical activity and sport as educationally worthwhile. We argue that previous attempts in the tradition of analytic philosophy of education to offer a justification of physical activity and sport have not been sufficiently grounded in the most distinctive feature of those activities—the body. As an alternative, we claim that the theory and practice of body-based mindfulness can explain how physical activity can satisfy the analytic philosopher of education R.S. Peters’ requirement that for an activity to be educationally worthwhile, it must possess ‘wide-ranging cognitive content’. We conclude that physical activity and sport are justifiable on Petersian grounds: physical activity can broaden understanding mostly inaccessible to the kinds of theoretical activities (science and/or philosophy) that Peters argued are exemplary. We then assess the implications for this argument in terms of how such an account can inform physical educators’ understanding of the place of physical education and sport in their teaching practice.     

Effects of social dominance orientation and right‐wing authoritarianism on corrupt intention: The role of moral outrage

Previous research suggested that dominance orientation and authoritarianism may be associated with corruption, but little research has verified this assumption or uncovered its psychological processes. In this article, we examined empirically the relationships between social dominance orientation (SDO), right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and corrupt intention and explored the mediating role of moral outrage on these relationships. A total of 677 college students participated in the study and completed measures of SDO, RWA, moral outrage and corrupt intention. Our findings demonstrated that both SDO and RWA were positively associated with corrupt intention. Additionally, moral outrage partially mediated the relation between SDO and corrupt intention and fully mediated the relation between RWA and corrupt intention. Specifically, the results indicated that higher SDO or RWA was associated with reduced moral outrage and increased corrupt intention. This implies that the enhancement of morality and moral outrage may inhibit corrupt intention.     

Cognitive ability, right-wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation: A five-year longitudinal study amongst adolescents

We report longitudinal data in which we assessed the relationships between intelligence and support for two constructs that shape ideological frameworks, namely, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO). Participants (N = 375) were assessed in Grade 7 and again in Grade 12. Verbal and numerical ability were assessed when students entered high school in Grade 7. RWA and SDO were assessed before school graduation in Grade 12. After controlling for the possible confounding effects of personality and religious values in Grade 12, RWA was predicted by low g (β = − .16) and low verbal intelligence (β = − .18). SDO was predicted by low verbal intelligence only (β = − .13). These results are discussed with reference to the role of verbal intelligence in predicting support for such ideological frameworks and some comments are offered regarding the cognitive distinctions between RWA and SDO.     

The object of my aggression: Sexual objectification increases physical aggression toward women

Objectification involves reducing someone to a sexual object, rather than seeing them as a full person. Despite numerous theoretical claims that people are more aggressive toward the objectified, and empirical evidence that objectification is linked to high willingness to aggress, rape proclivity, and aggressive attitudes, no research has examined a causal link between objectification and physical aggression, particularly in the context of provocation. In two experiments, we examined this predicted link. In Experiment 1, using a 2 (objectification: no/yes) × 2 (provocation: no/yes) factorial between‐subjects design, we investigated the effects of objectification, induced via body focus during a face‐to‐face interaction, and provocation on physical aggression toward a female confederate. Our results revealed a significant main effect of provocation, a marginal main effect of objectification, and a significant interaction between these variables. In the absence of a provocation, focusing on a woman's body increased aggression toward her. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 using a video of a target woman instead of a face‐to‐face interaction. Again, our results showed a significant two‐way interaction between objectification and provocation, wherein objectification increased aggression in the absence of provocation. Overall, this research indicates that objectification can lead to heightened physical aggression toward objectified women.

     

Governing sporting brains: concussion,neuroscience, and the biopolitical regulation of sport

Abstract

Drawing on the recent concussion litigation from the United States’ National Football League (NFL), the paper examines the emergence of neuroscience knowledge as part of a defining rationale for the justification and rationalization of the lawsuit. The paper argues that neuroscience knowledge is best understood as a regulatory discourse that is attached to larger social, political, and economic realities that bring it into being as a legitimate type of knowledge. This larger socio-political governance logic is one that scholars call ‘biopolitical’ which emphasizes the protection of individual life over and above other ways of being. Risk discourses that frame risk-taking practices as immoral thus emerge within this biopolitical regime of governance that frame morality in terms of public health that individual citizens ought to pursue. With this in mind neuroscience knowledge plays an important role in concussion litigation. It emerges as a technology of biopolitical governance in that it is used to justify legal decisions on concussion. This is despite the fact that neuroscience knowledge remains nascent and even scientifically uncertain. Because of this, the paper argues that scholars ought to not only consider neuroscience research skeptically, but also ought to be aware of the dangers of neuroscience’s emergence as an ‘anticipatory discourse’ that has the potential to reduce human behavior to matters of the brain that thus transforms our very ontology of ourselves and the practices we perceive as ‘good’.     

Experiences of physical and relational victimization in children with ADHD: The role of social problems and aggression

The social risk factors for physical and relational peer victimization were examined within a mixed‐gender sample of children with and without attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 124 children (ages 8–12 years; 48% boys), with 47% exhibiting sub‐clinical or clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms. ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptom counts were assessed based on parent‐ and teacher‐reports; parents rated children's social problems and teachers rated children's use of physical and relational aggression and experiences of physical and relational victimization. A multiple mediator model was used to test whether there were indirect effects of ADHD or ODD symptoms on physical and relational victimization through social problems, physical aggression, or relational aggression. At the bivariate level, ADHD and ODD symptoms were both significantly associated with higher rates of physical and relational victimization. In the mediational model, there were significant indirect effects of ADHD symptoms on relational victimization via social problems, of ODD on relational victimization via relational aggression, and of ODD symptoms on physical victimization via physical aggression. Results suggest that there are distinct risk factors implicated in the physical and relational victimization of youth with ADHD and that the co‐occurrence of ODD symptoms is important to assess. Clinical implications for addressing victimization in children with ADHD are discussed.

     

The development of social aggression and physical aggression: A narrative analysis of interpersonal conflicts

Using conflict narratives reported by children and adolescents, this study investigated the development and social functions of social aggression in comparison to physical aggression. A total of 510 participants in two cohorts of a longitudinal study were involved (116 girls and 104 boys from Grade 4 and155 girls and 135 boys from Grade 7). Patterns of social aggression and physical aggression were identified based on interview reports in the first year of the study. Results showed that a triadic structure of social relationship was often reported in conflicts where social aggression was employed, whereas a dyadic structure was reported in conflicts involving physical aggression. Girls tended to use social aggression against girls, whereas boys tended to use physical aggression against boys. Children and adolescents who were central in peer social networks were more likely to employ social aggression than those who were peripheral in the networks. Social aggression was not reliably linked to concurrent or future problematic adjustment. Physical aggression, however, was not related to network centrality but was linked to concurrent and future maladjustment (e.g., low academic competence and school dropout). Aggr. Behav. 28:341–355, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The dimensional structure of people's fears,threats, and concerns and their relationship with right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation

Most theories addressing the topic have proposed that threat and fear underlie right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), and many empirical findings have been consistent with this proposition. Important questions, however, remain unanswered, such as whether RWA is associated with fear and threat in general or only specific kinds of fear and threat. Theories of RWA generate markedly different predictions on this issue, particularly with respect to social or personal fears, and whether the association would also hold for the closely related construct of social dominance orientation (SDO). We investigated the issue by asking 463 undergraduate students to rate their feelings of fear, concern, and anxiety to a comprehensive 93‐item list of potential fears and threats, which were formulated as either personal or social. Exploratory factors analysis identified five distinct fear–threat factors: Harm to Self, Child, or Country; Personal and Relationship Failures; Environmental and Economic Fears; Political and Personal Uncertainties; and Threats to Ingroup. All the fear–threat factors were correlated with RWA, with the strongest correlations being for Threats to Ingroup, and with stronger effects for social than for personal fears. None of the fear factors correlated with SDO. These relationships were not affected by controlling for Social Desirability or Emotional Stability (EMS). When the intercorrelations between fear factors and EMS were controlled using ridge regression, only Threats to Ingroup predicted RWA. Structural equation modeling indicated good fit for a model in which low levels of EMS had a significant path to Threats to Ingroup, which in turn had a significant path to RWA, and EMS having a significant though weak indirect (fully mediated) inverse effect on RWA. Implications of these findings for theories of authoritarianism and future research are discussed.     

Attitudes to women in society: the role of social dominance orientation and social values

his research assessed the extent to which attitudes to women in society are predicted by the personality trait social dominance orientation (SDO) as well as the values international harmony and equality (INT) and national strength and order (NAT). Respondents were a community sample of adult non‐students (N = 158). Sex differences were observed on INT and attitudes to women. Multiple regression analyses showed sex differences in the extent to which SDO predicts attitudes to women, while no support was found for the view that social attitudes are underpinned by both security and harmony values. The results are discussed with reference to social dominance theory and the nature of the security value domain. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When winning is everything: On passion, identity, and aggression in sport

ObjectivesTo examine the interplay between harmonious and obsessive passion and aggressive behavior in sports. It was hypothesized that players who are obsessively-passionate about basketball should report higher levels of aggressive behaviors than harmoniously-passionate players in general, and especially under self threat.MethodsUsing the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand et al. (2003), Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 756–767) as a guiding framework, basketball players indicated their level of passion and aggression during typical basketball situations using a self-reported questionnaire.ResultsIn Study 1, results demonstrated that athletes with a predominant obsessive passion for basketball reported higher levels of aggression on an aggression scale than athletes with a harmonious passion. In Study 2, harmoniously-passionate and obsessively-passionate athletes were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: self-threat and self-affirmation. We predicted that under self-threat, obsessively-passionate players should report higher levels of aggressive behavior than harmoniously-passionate players. However, no differences were expected between obsessively and harmoniously-passionate players in the self-affirmation condition. These hypotheses were supported.ConclusionsThe present findings reveal that having an obsessive passion is associated with aggressive behavior, especially under identity threat. Thus, the love for one's sport may lead to some maladaptive interpersonal behavior, especially if such love is rooted in a sense of identity that is contingent on doing well in that sport.     

The effects of exergaming on physical activity in a third-grade physical education class

We compared the effects of exergaming and traditional physical education on physical activity among 4 active children who were not overweight and who had experience with the exergaming activities prior to the study. Results showed that exergaming produced substantially higher percentages of physical activity and opportunity to engage in physical activity. In addition, an evaluation of the exergaming equipment showed that exergaming stations were associated with differential levels of physical activity across participants.     

Authoritarianism and fear responses to pictures: The role of social differences

Authoritarianism can be defined as the covariation of authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism (Altemeyer, 1981). All three of these tendencies involve adherence to specific standards of behavior: standards that could be exposed to threat and disruption. This study is an investigation of the self‐reported fear of authoritarians in response to threats. A sample of 126 university students was exposed to a series of pictures of potentially threatening people and situations. In general, participants with high scores on authoritarianism were more fearful than participants with low scores. This result was found for both social threats (i.e., social differences, social disorder) and personal threats (i.e., animals, dangerous situations). The strongest association between authoritarianism and fear involved cases of social differences, defined as elements of a person's appearance or behavior that involve diversity or deviance from common social norms. Regression analyses also indicated that variation in authoritarianism could be best predicted by fear of social differences. Thus, these data suggest that authoritarians are relatively sensitive to threat, and particularly to threats involving the “outsider” who does not fit authoritarian standards of uniformity and order. The data are also consistent with recent research and theory that right‐wing ideology is at least partly motivated by threat and fear.     

Mechanisms of moral disengagement and their differential use by right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation in support of war

Right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are associated with the approval of war as a political intervention [McFarland, 2005]. We examined whether the effects of RWA and SDO on war support are mediated by moral‐disengagement mechanisms [i.e., responsibility reduction, moral justification, minimizing consequences, and dehumanizing–blaming victims; Bandura, 1999] and whether the ideologies use the mechanisms differently. Our data were consistent with the possibility that minimizing consequences (Study 1) and moral justification (Study 2) mediate the effects of RWA and SDO on approval of war. Both ideologies were positively associated with all moral‐disengagement mechanism though more strongly so for RWA. Comparisons within ideologies suggest that RWA was most strongly associated with moral justification and SDO was most strongly associated with dehumanizing–blaming victims. We discuss implications and limitations. Aggr. Behav. 36:238–250, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The relationship between social dominance orientation,gender role orientation and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians in a Turkish sample

Current Psychology - Sexual prejudice refers to negative attitudes towards individuals based on their sexual orientation. Scholars have shown an interest in identifying the factors that may...     

Achievement and social goals, persistence-effort, and intentions of sport practice in physical education students

The present study examined the relationship between achievement and social goals, and explored how both types of goals can affect secondary school students' persistence/effort in Physical Education classes, as well as their intention to participate in sport activities after finishing secondary school. A sample of 350 students (aged 15-17) from two high schools in Asturias participated in the study. Multiple regression analysis showed: a) persistence/effort in physical education classes was better explained by social responsibility goals, followed by mastery-approach goals and mastery-avoidance goals; b) achievement goals are the only predictors of young people's intention of practicing sport in the future. Differences were found in these results according to gender and course. These findings help us better understand the processes involved in Physical Education. Finally, implications to improve classes and to achieve young people's more active and higher level of implication in sports are discussed.     

We will hunt them down: How social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism fuel ethnic persecution of immigrants in fundamentally different ways

Despite the fact that SDO and RWA are correlated with one another and both predict support for ethnic persecution of immigrants, it is argued that this aggression is provoked for very different reasons. For authoritarians, outgroup aggression against immigrants should primarily be provoked by immigrant refusal to assimilate into the dominant culture because this violates ingroup conformity. In contrast, SDO should be associated with aggression against immigrants who do assimilate into the dominant culture because this blurs existing status boundaries between groups. Using samples of American and Swiss college students, the data were consistent with this status boundary enforcement hypothesis regarding social dominators and largely consistent with the ingroup conformity hypothesis regarding authoritarians. National and ethnic identification did not account for these results. The results further support the argument that outgroup prejudice and discrimination is most fruitfully seen as an interactive function of individual differences and situational constraints.     

Effects of a physical exercise session on state body image: The influence of pre-experimental body dissatisfaction and concerns about weight and shape

The effects of a physical exercise session on state body image and mood were examined. In a cross-over design, participants were randomised to two groups starting either with physical exercise (PE; experimental condition) or with reading a newspaper (RN; control condition). Before and after PE and RN, participants (N = 65) rated their body dimensions using a digital photo distortion technique and indicated their attitudinal body image and mood. Participants’ judgements of their ‘felt’ body dimensions and attitudes toward their own body were affected differently by PE and RN, indicating that participants felt slightly slimmer and were more satisfied with their bodies after PE. Exercise-induced changes in body perception were greater, the higher the pre-experimental drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction and weight/shape concerns were. Especially in those participants with higher body image disturbances, physical exercise can have a reinforcing effect on immediate body image and mood improvement.