Investigating the association between social identity and group-based self-conscious emotions and with sport commitment among adolescent female athletes

Isabelle Doré *, Eva Pila **, Jenna Gilchrist *** and Catherine Sabiston ****

(*) School of Kinesiology and Physical Activiti Science,Uiversity of Montreal, Canada
(**) School of Kinesiology, Western University, Canada
(***) School of Public Health amd Healt Systems, University of Waterloo, Canada
(****) Faculty of Kinesioogy and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Canada

Citation

Doré, I., Pila, E., Gilchrist, J., Sabiston, C. (2020). Investigating the association between social identity and group-based self-conscious emotions and with sport commitment among adolescent female athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 51(4), 297-319. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2020.51.297

Abstract

Due to the prevalence of sport dropout among female athletes during adolescence, identifying factors that mitigate this decline in participation is important. This study examined social identity and group-based self-conscious emotions as correlates of sport commitment among 239 young female athletes (Mage= 14.07 years, SD = 1.37 years, Range = 11–17 years). Data were analyzed using linear regressions. The ingroup affect component of social identity was associated with sport commitment (βˆ ranging from .23 to .26, all p<.01). Group-based guilt, shame, and embarrassment were negatively related to sport commitment (βˆ ranging from -.11 to -.15, all p<.05), while group-based authentic pride was positively associated with sport commitment (βˆ =.16, p<.01). Group-based constructs such as social identity and self-conscious emotions may be worthwhile targets for interventions that aim to improve sport commitment and mitigate sport dropout.

Keywords: Embarrassment, envy, group sport, guilt, shame, pride, social identity