Sport-Identity as Side Bet - Towards Explaining Commitment form an Interactionist Perspective.

The symbolic interactionist perspective is used to demonstrate that the substantive area of sport can be conceptually elevated to a more formal level. Becker's formulation of identity as a commitment mechanism is: (1) conceptually extended to include more active, diverse, and complex lines of activity, and (2) applied to sport behavior. Sport commitment appears to be an effective tool for the recasting of sport. Directives for future investigations of: (1) sport as side bet and (2) identity as a commitment process are delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]