▼ The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between perfectionism, anxiety, and anger on reactive aggression in male, contact sport athletes. A total of 50 male athletes competing in three contact sports, ice hockey, rugby, and football completed the surveys. A significant regression analysis revealed that the Sport-MPS subscales of perfectionism predicted levels of reactive aggression, as measured by the Bredemeier Athletic Aggression Inventory, specifically the concern over mistakes subscale and the organization subscale. Also, it was found that levels of reported state-anger, anxiety, and perfectionism significantly predicted levels of reactive aggression. Future research directions and study limitations will be discussed Advisors/Committee Members: Chase, Melissa.

▼ The current study explored female college athletes’ experiences of specific others’ (i.e., coaches, teammates, and parents) communication about their sporting bodies and how they make sense of their bodies in relation to this communication. How they believed specific others should communicate with them about their bodies was also examined. Eight female National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college athletes were recruited. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 2004). Participants experienced communication from others as both supportive and unsupportive. Individualized athlete-centered training, recognizing body change, and relationship development were viewed as supportive means of communicating, whereas comparing athletes’ bodies, critical comments, and threatening sport participation were perceived as negative. These athletes experienced the sport environment as emphasizing bodies ready for successful sport performance in a variety of ways. The participants perceived conflicts between sport performing body ideals and dominant social ideals of feminine bodies. Advisors/Committee Members: Ward, Rose Marie.

▼ The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether adolescent athletes' levels of sport burnout would be correlated with, or predicted by, their level and type of passion and the degree to which they identify with the athlete role. Measures for burnout, passion and athletic identity were completed by 218 high school female athletes attending summer camps. Two significant canonical functions explained the relationship of the variables. In the first canonical function, high levels of harmonious passion combined with high levels of social identity were predictive of lower levels of burnout on all three dimensions of burnout. In the second canonical function, high scores on obsessive passion combined with high scores on all three subscales of the AIMS were predictive of higher scores on the exhaustion dimension of burnout but lower levels of sport devaluation. Future directions and limitations of the study are also discussed. Advisors/Committee Members: Horn, Thelma.

▼ The purpose of this study was to investigate the question “How do Miami University alumni perceive and experience the removal of a Native American team nickname from the University's athletic program?” Fourteen semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with alumni from Miami University, each of who represented one of three cohorts relative to the year (1997) the team nickname was changed – that is, who were students either before (graduated by 1993), during (graduated during the years 1993-2000), or after the change (graduated post-2000). Three main themes were identified across all cohorts. The three themes were: It’s P.C., It’s Invention, and Erasing Tradition. Cohort specific themes also emerged. Advisors/Committee Members: Harris, Othello.

▼ The purpose of this study was to examine athletes’ sport-confidence and perceptions of coaching competence following a performance mistake in which the coach removes the athlete from the game or leaves the athlete in the game. A total of 68 participants, both males and females, from 18 to 24 years old, with at least one year of high school varsity basketball experience read a scenario in which they were either taken out of the game or left in the game after a mistake. Results indicated that being taken out of the game did not lower athletes’ sport-confidence, nor did their confidence differ from those that remained in the game. Those taken out of the game did report lower perceptions of the coach’s competence. Future research should focus on different types of sports, athletes who consistently encounter this situation, and the type of feedback given by their coach. Advisors/Committee Members: Chase, Melissa.