Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players

The article was devoted to analysing the specifics of the phenomenon of rituals and their social impact. Ritual activities can be diverse, and their characteristics are likely to be specific only to certain social groups. The peri-sport sphere is exceptionally saturated with ritual practices, and th...

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Main Author: Julia Witkowska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Lodz University Press 2023-09-01
Series:Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Sociologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/sociologica/article/view/20959
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author Julia Witkowska
author_facet Julia Witkowska
author_sort Julia Witkowska
collection DOAJ
description The article was devoted to analysing the specifics of the phenomenon of rituals and their social impact. Ritual activities can be diverse, and their characteristics are likely to be specific only to certain social groups. The peri-sport sphere is exceptionally saturated with ritual practices, and the interest in this phenomenon may be compounded by the fact that sports are a relatively under-researched area from a social perspective. In analysing aspects related to the practices in question, it was necessary to refer to psychological mechanisms, an anthropological perspective and a key one – the sociological approach of such theorists as Randall Collins, Erving Goffman, and Émile Durkheim. In the remainder of the article, spectator and highly media-oriented sports were primarily scrutinised. These disciplines were chosen because the players practising them are characterised by a high degree of use of rituals, and they are activities that allow for more straightforward observation of many of the attributes associated with the practices in question. Prioritised in the context of this article was the analysis of a self-reported survey conducted on professional table tennis players. The fundamental data collection method was an online survey, the results augmented by participant observation. The purpose of the study was to find out the specifics of table tennis players’ rituals. Devoting attention to the plane associated with table tennis was essential due to the lack of scientific information on this social group and the widespread use of rituals by the players surveyed. As a result, the issue of athletes’ rituals was enriched with information on players’ habits of another exciting sport – table tennis.
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spelling doaj.art-8b69c5df20e94c44a33e3afa7e79feab2023-11-24T12:40:43ZengLodz University PressActa Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Sociologica0208-600X2353-48502023-09-0186435910.18778/0208-600X.86.0320818Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis playersJulia Witkowska0University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Social Science, Institute of SociologyThe article was devoted to analysing the specifics of the phenomenon of rituals and their social impact. Ritual activities can be diverse, and their characteristics are likely to be specific only to certain social groups. The peri-sport sphere is exceptionally saturated with ritual practices, and the interest in this phenomenon may be compounded by the fact that sports are a relatively under-researched area from a social perspective. In analysing aspects related to the practices in question, it was necessary to refer to psychological mechanisms, an anthropological perspective and a key one – the sociological approach of such theorists as Randall Collins, Erving Goffman, and Émile Durkheim. In the remainder of the article, spectator and highly media-oriented sports were primarily scrutinised. These disciplines were chosen because the players practising them are characterised by a high degree of use of rituals, and they are activities that allow for more straightforward observation of many of the attributes associated with the practices in question. Prioritised in the context of this article was the analysis of a self-reported survey conducted on professional table tennis players. The fundamental data collection method was an online survey, the results augmented by participant observation. The purpose of the study was to find out the specifics of table tennis players’ rituals. Devoting attention to the plane associated with table tennis was essential due to the lack of scientific information on this social group and the widespread use of rituals by the players surveyed. As a result, the issue of athletes’ rituals was enriched with information on players’ habits of another exciting sport – table tennis.https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/sociologica/article/view/20959ritualthe social dimension of sportscontemporarytable tennis playersquantitative survey
spellingShingle Julia Witkowska
Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players
Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Sociologica
ritual
the social dimension of sports
contemporary
table tennis players
quantitative survey
title Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players
title_full Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players
title_fullStr Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players
title_full_unstemmed Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players
title_short Ritual in sport – an empirical study of table tennis players
title_sort ritual in sport an empirical study of table tennis players
topic ritual
the social dimension of sports
contemporary
table tennis players
quantitative survey
url https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/sociologica/article/view/20959
work_keys_str_mv AT juliawitkowska ritualinsportanempiricalstudyoftabletennisplayers