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To address the needs of youth and young people aged 10-24 in modern society, positive youth development (PYD) scholars (Gonzalez et al. 2020) and sport social workers (Tarr et al., 2023) have advocated to recenter social justice promotion within traditional PYD perspectives. This approach emphasizes the importance of promoting social justice life skills (Camire et al., 2021), such as LGBTQ+ allyship (Robinson et al., 2023) and healthy masculinity (Newman et al., 2022). In fact, among college student-athletes, research has demonstrated a significant relationship between social justice attitudes and behavioral intentions (Turgeon et al., 2023). However, social justice is recognized as being a multifaceted and diverse construct that encompasses various areas ranging from gender/sex to dis/ability. While the issues regarding race and racism have been well-documented within collegiate athletics (Newman et al., 2023), the concept of antiracism (as an actionable behavior) has yet to be examined within collegiate athletics. The objective of this study is to delve into the construct of social justice and its different aspects, by analyzing the connections among general social justice attitudes, intention to promote social justice, and antiracism.
Method
In total, 218 college student-athletes from nine universities participated in the study. Participants were on average 21 years of age (SD=1.3) and the majority identified as female (n=163). A total of 17 sports were represented, including track/field (n=53), swimming/diving (n=32), and soccer (n=26). The Social Justice Scale (Torres-Harding, 2012) was used to assess both attitudes and behavioral intentions pertaining to social justice. The Anti-Racism Behavioral Inventory Scale (Pieterse et al., 2016) was used to assess antiracism behavioral occurrences in participants' real lives. Mediation analysis was utilized to examine the cross-sectional mediation effect of social justice intention on the relationship between social justice attitudes and antiracism behaviors.
Results
All scales used in the study showed high internal consistency. Assumptions for mediation were assessed and no concerns of confounding were identified. The total effect of social justice attitudes on antiracism behavioral occurrences was 28.6% (t = 7.9, p <.001, 95% CI [.22; .36]). The indirect effect of social justice attitudes through social justice intention on antiracism behavioral occurrences was 20.3% (p <.01, boot 95% CI [.12; .31]). The direct effect of social justice attitudes on antiracism behavioral occurrences was 8.3% (t = 2.1, p <.05, 95% CI [.01; .16]). All three paths in the mediation model were statistically significant.
Implications and Conclusions
Historically, college student-athletes have used their platform to promote social justice. In contemporary society, college student-athletes have begun to demonstrate a desire in affecting social change, which goes beyond mere intention, with calls for concrete action. To assist athletes in their pursuit of a fair and just society, sport social workers—particularly those embedded within athletic departments—are uniquely positioned to support broad social justice initiatives, as well as specific social justice causes. Together, college student-athletes and sport social workers would be better positioned to achieve their goal of a more equitable and just society.