SEMINAR: A Comparative Sports Culture Study between Europeans, North Americans and a Modern Muslim Nation

Abstract: This study compared cultural attitudes and beliefs in American, Italian, German, Turkish and Swiss/French samples. A total of 800 (between 18-70 years old) mostly from American, Italian, German, Turkish and Swiss/French universities responded to an online survey. Europeans, including Turks, associated sports with health, fun, pleasure and fitness; whereas, Americans associated sports with competition, athleticism and teamwork. A significant sociological factor in being a sport fan was appeal of aggressive and violent contents in USA whereas nationalizations and internalization was in Germany, Switzerland and France. Meanwhile the main sociological factor to be sport fan was escape, diversion from the real-life, in Turkey.

Dr. Yakut’s Bio: Cengiz Yakut, PhD, is currently full professor teaching Globalization and Cultural Differences in Sports, Motor learning and behavior, and various exercise and sport science courses at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania (LHUP). He is the editor and a chapter writer for the book of readings titled “Globalization and Cultural Differences in Sports” which is used in an LHUP general education course in the Global Awareness and Citizenship. Dr. Yakut received his master and doctoral degrees in Movement Science and Kinesiology from The University of Michigan. During his graduate study, he was a visiting researcher at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He taught a seminar, “Sociological Issues in Sports in the? Globalized World” in the Department of Sports and Education at the University of Paderborn in Germany while he was on academic leave. He was a visiting researcher at Lausanne University, Switzerland and the University of Cassino in Italy to finish ongoing research in “Comparing and Contrasting Sports Attitudes across Cultures in the Globalized World” in Europe.