Professional sport as a factor of youth socialization

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical substantiation of the importance of considering professional sports as one of the factors of youth socialization. The influence of sports on the socialization of young people is the object of many scientific studies, but there are practically no comprehensive studies devoted to the influence of professional sports. Professional sport is a sphere of public life that has large amounts of funding and is highly popular among the population. Professional sport influences young people to varying degrees through sporting events, media coverage, online discussions, and etc. Based on the borrowed model of the structure of the socialization of an individual, the author describes the main directions of the influence of professional sports on young people. The research methods are a theoretical analysis of the scientific literature on the problem under study, as well as a secondary analysis of previously conducted sociological studies and statistical data. The conclusions made by the author are that the impact of professional sports on the socialization of young people consist in the spread of value orientations, meeting the need for affiliation and influencing career preferences. And also professional sports are revealed as a significant factor of socialization, which can have both positive and negative effects on young people, while the author notes the need for further research on this issue.

Keywords

• sport
• professional sports
• socialization
• youth
• youth socialization
• socialization factor
• socialization structure