Occupational Socialization and Value Orientation of Athletic Coaches

Abstract Socialization theory suggests that members of a group tend to possess the values, attitudes, and behaviors that are normative for that group. Earlier research indicates that this is true of members of certain occupations. Research on values also indicates that adults tend to become more conservative in value orientation with age. The Polyphasic Values Inventory (PVI) was sent to 330 college football, track, and basketball head coaches to ascertain their value orientations on selected dimensions of value difference. Chi-square tests of independence were used to determine whether coaches in the three sports were significantly different in value orientation and whether coaches over 40 years of age were significantly different from those under 40 years of age. No significant differences were found on any of the 20 items of the PVI when comparing coaches from the various sports. Furthermore, no significant differences were found on any of the items between coaches over 40 years of age and coaches unde...