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Quinn Smith, Jake Stern, Michaela Soussa, Oliver Davis

Psych 251a: Cultural Psychology

December 9, 2013

Sports & Tradition

Cultural Psychology was born of the idea that both the “psychological” and “the cultural” are

separate entities that are mutually constituted and constantly affecting one another. People’s

psychological makeup, their values, ideologies, and stereotypes are constantly affecting and being

affected by their cultural contexts; things like common practices, interpersonal interactions, traditions

and customs and vice versa. For the purposes of this argument, sports will be taken into account as a

category of its own, separate from tradition but mutually constituted as a sub-category of common

cultural practices. Take a deeper look into the world of sports and you will find the inner ethos of acommunity, the traditions that they value and the inner psyche that permeates that culture. Practices,

as Markus and Hamedani stated, are not just behavior; they are meaningful acts that coordinate the

actions of individuals with those of others and maintain the social context (p. 8). Something as large and

seemingly non-personal as sports and traditions can tell you a great deal about the psychological and

cultural framework of those who value them.

Seeing as the United States and its sporting culture and cultural traditions are well documented

and followed throughout the world, it is probably the best place to lay the foundations of this concept.

The major sports in the United States, or the ones with the most attention and monetary value, are the

NBA(National Basketball Association), the NFL(National Football Association), the MLB(Major League

Baseball), and the NHL(National Hockey League). In all of these sports one will often hear the same

mantra: “Teamwork” and as nice and encouraging as that should sound it is not very indicative of the

sporting ethos you will find in the United States. A good example would be that of the MVP, or Most

Valuable Player Award, which is handed out to either the best player on the winning team or the best

player in an entire league, sometimes even both. What is so curious about this particular award is that

each of the sports listed above are team oriented sports. Logically one could ask the question: why then

is there an award for the best individual player? What significance does that hold? Would it not be

better to give an award to the best teammate? Maybe even the hardest worker award? After all these

players are the team members that are working for the team as a whole in a team sport and giving it

their all. In any case, this is an indication of “the psychological” ethos that permeates the American

culture; the most talented and flashy player who contributes the most goals or touchdowns is the one

who deserves the most praise. Likewise it can be said of American tradition in the form of the

educational system in which the best student is nominated valedictorian, an award given to the bestindividual student with the best grades and test scores. As Susman and Sennett point out: “As capitalism

tore asunder the social bonds of feudalism and left people to fend for themselves and work for their

own self-interest, an increasingly individualized self was required to participate in these novel social

relations”(p. 262, 2006). It can be said then that the American psychological ethos of “self -interest”

made its way into American sporting culture and tradition and can be highlighted in the form of

individual achievement awards.

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