The prism of culture: Seeing through the lens of globally situated sport psychology professionals

Alessandro Quartiroli *, Justine Vosloo **, Robert J. Schinke ***, Shelby N. Anderson ****, Leslee A. Fisher ***** and Thierry R. F. Middleton ***

(*) University of Wisconsin – La Crosse USA and University of Portsmouth, UK
(**) Ithaca College, USA
(***) Laurentian University, Canada
(****) University of North Carolina – Greensboro, USA
(*****) University of Tennessee, USA

Citation

Quartiroli, A., Vosloo, J., J. Schinke, R., N. Anderson, S., A. Fisher, L., R. F. Middleton, T. (2021). The prism of culture: Seeing through the lens of globally situated sport psychology professionals. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 52(1), 51-70. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2021.52.051

Abstract

The current study was undertaken to develop an understanding of how sport psychology professionals (SPPs) attribute meaning to the concept of culture within the context of their scholarly and applied work. Researchers examined how 25 internationally located SPPs described the construct of culture using Hill’s (2012) Consensual Qualitative Research. Their description of culture, which was grounded in their professional and personal experience within the sport psychology field, entailed three domains: (a) the multifaceted meaning of culture; (b) cultural development as the result of internal processes; and (c) cultural development as a contextual social interaction. These SPPs’ description of culture also helped us to identify some of the key aspects that may be considered relevant to conceptualize culture within the sport psychology professional context. SPPs could benefit from exploring and integrating these key aspects as a way to engage in culturally grounded applied and scholarly sport psychology practice.

Keywords: Sport Psychology Practitioners, Sport Psychology Scholars, Culture, Cultural Competence