Social Integration of People With a Migration Background in European Sports Clubs

Policy makers often ascribe sports clubs an important societal role, as they can encourage the integration of people with amigration background. Questions then arise as to the extent that members with a migration background are integrated in sportsclubs and what the factors are that play a role in this integration. The data for this research are drawn from a comparative study of10 European countries. The analyses take a multidimensional approach to social integration and differentiate between thedimensions of understanding/acceptance, interaction, and identification. The results show that members with a migrationbackground are relatively well integrated, but less so than other club members. There is a positive association between socialintegration and the volunteering, participation in competitions, long-term membership, and sports activities in teams

Motives for leisure-time physical activity participation: an analysis of their prevalence, consistency and associations with activity type and social background.

BACKGROUND Studies argue that knowledge about motives for physical activity participation can inform activities, initiatives and interventions to promote physical activity. However, most of these studies are based on small sample sizes and only include participants within a few selected types of PA. Further, they have not examined the consistency of individuals' motives across different activity types. As a result, this article examines RQ1: the most prevalent motives, RQ2: the association of motives with activity type and social background characteristics, and RQ3: the consistency of motives across different activity types. METHODS We utilised data from a survey of physical activity participation among 163,000 adult Danes (aged 15 + years). In the survey, the participants were asked about their participation in thirteen activity types and about their motives for practising the activity types they reported to do at least weekly. The motive items were operationalised based on the eight dimensions in the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS). We conducted analyses of mean values and standard deviations as well as multilevel regression analyses. RESULTS We identified large differences in the importance of different motives for physical activity participation. The three most important motives were psychological condition (M = 4.54), physical condition (M = 4.48) and enjoyment (M = 4.36). We also found significant associations between motives and activity types in particular, but also between motives and social background characteristics (gender, age and educational level). For instance, we found that compared to running, physical condition was a much less important motive in outdoor activities (b = -3.01), activities on water (b = -2.44) and street sports (b = -2.38). Finally, our analysis showed how individuals' motives are not consistent across different activity types. CONCLUSIONS Our study contributes to the literature on motives for physical activity participation by using a large sample of individuals and by differentiating motives according to a wide range of activity types. The results underline the need to study motives in relation to activity types, as there are large differences in the prevalence of different motives. Our findings suggest that motives are not consistent across activity types, but rather they develop in an interplay between the individual and the activity type practised

Exploring the process of restoring psychological needs after incidences of frustration and need unfulfillment

BackgroundResearch on psychological need restoration after incidences of need frustration holds promise for deepening our understanding of the dynamic nature of psychological needs proposed by self-determination theory. We aimed to extend this work by exploring differences in the process of restoring psychological needs after indences of frustration versus need unfulfillment.MethodsIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 Danish adults varying in age, gender, and physical activity levels. Data were analyzed using the Framework Method.ResultsWe identified four distinct yet interconnected phases in the need restoration process: Discrepancies between Actual and Desired Need States, Experiencing Negative Emotions, Initiating Plans for Action, and Action Stage. These stages offer a comprehensive framework for understanding how individuals restore their needs.DiscussionWe discerned contrasting approaches to need restoration depending on prior experiences of need frustration due to external contingencies versus need frustration due to internal factors and need unfulfillment. Need frustration due to external contingencies prompts withdrawal, aligning with the avoidance strategies identified in the literature. Conversely, unfulfilled needs and need frustration due to internal factors lead to proactive engagement, highlighting a distinct ‘fight’ response. These insights extend existing research, providing a nuanced understanding of the dynamic processes of need restoration

Volunteer satisfaction in sports clubs: A multilevel analysis in 10 European countries

Regular voluntary engagement is a basic resource for sports clubs that may also promote social cohesion and active citizenship. The satisfaction of volunteers is an imperative factor in this engagement, and the purpose of this article is to explore individual and organizational determinants of volunteer satisfaction in sports clubs. Theoretically, our study builds on the actor-theory concepts where volunteer satisfaction depends on subjective evaluations of expectations and experiences in a sports club (‘logic of situation’), so that positive evaluations lead to higher satisfaction and, hopefully, retention of volunteers. This research uses a sample of 8131 volunteers from 642 sports clubs in 10 European countries, and is the first analysis to combine determinants at the level of the club and the volunteer (multilevel). Results show that the most important determinants of satisfaction are the conditions of volunteering (recognition, support, leadership and material incentives) and the workload of volunteers. Surprisingly, club characteristics, size or having paid staff are not significant determinants of volunteer satisfaction. The results of this analysis can assist more effective volunteer management in sports clubs that are facing challenges of individualization and professionalization

Sports clubs as a medium for integrating people with disabilities

Participation in sports clubs is often ascribed with the ability to promote social integration of people with disabilities, since it can provide a platform for creating social networks and friendships. However, integration is not reached automatically, and it is strongly reliant on specific factors and conditions. Therefore, this study compares the degree of social integration of members with and without disabilities and analyses individual and structural factors relevant for social integration of members with disabilities. Social integration is conceptualised as a multidimensional concept and focuses on socio-cultural and socio-affective (interaction, identification) dimensions. Statistical regression analyses were conducted using data from 13,082 members (N = 1482 of that reported at least one disability) in 642 sports clubs in ten European countries. The results show that members with disabilities are integrated to the same extent as members without disabilities, and the degree of social integration seems to be more reliant on individual factors than on structural factors of sports clubs. Affiliation and participation in a club (volunteering, participation in competitive sport, long-term membership, frequency of sports participation, team/group size) are relevant for social integration. Furthermore, the setting matters, as members with disabilities practising in both settings, only with people with disabilities as well as together with members without disabilities, are slightly better integrated regarding the ‘interaction’-dimension than those practising in a separate setting only

Promoting social integration and volunteering in sports clubs. Lessons from practice

status: publishe

Sports Clubs and Civil Society in Switzerland and Denmark: A Comparison

Sports clubs are a core element of the Swiss as well as Danish sports landscape. In both countries, sports clubs play a crucial role in civil society and are accredited with various socio-political functions. Sports clubs can promote public health, social integration and democratic decision-making, particularly through voluntary work by the members. The aim of this contribution is to compare these functions of sports clubs in the context of two different sport systems. Based on the data of the European research project, Social Integration and Volunteering in Sports Clubs (SIVSCE), we analyze differences and similarities between Swiss and Danish sports clubs with a special focus on the contribution of sports clubs to public health, integration, democratic engagement and volunteering. Our analyses show that sports clubs in Denmark focus more on health enhancing physical activity than those in Switzerland, whereas in Swiss sports clubs competitive sport and conviviality as well as social integration and democratic decision-making are more important. It is argued that these differences between the two countries may be due to historical differences in the importance that non-competitive gymnastics and health promotion has had in sport clubs in the two countries; a trade-off between high participation in non-competitive sports activities in sports clubs and relatively low participation in both social activities and the clubs’ internal democracy in Denmark; and that the greater participation in member democracy in sports clubs can be linked to the strong participatory democratic tradition in Switzerlan