Moral Atmosphere and Pro-Social Collective Norms: A Case Study of Two Collegiate Softball Teams

The purpose of this pilot initiative is to identify a better measure for assessing the moral atmosphere on collegiate athletic teams. It is believed that an athlete's moral reasoning, judgment regarding caring, and helping as well as aggression (i.e. backtalk), are related to his/her team's moral atmosphere. By asking participants to explain the reasoning behind their judgment, this study looks to (a) explore the athlete's perception of their team environment with the purpose of identifying pro-social collective norms. The hypothesis is pro-social collective norms will be both prevalent and persuasive within collegiate athletic teams. Second, this study will (b) attempt to further examine the feelings about these norms as it pertains to their original source. Specifically, this study hopes to investigate whether collective norms are established and maintained by the coach or organization (top-down) or if they develop and are institutionalized by the team members themselves (bottom-up). The hypothesis is that the collective or community norms established within the context of the group (bottom-up) will have a positive, powerful, and persuasive influence on the members of the team. Results supported both of the aforementioned hypotheses.