Religiosity, Sports, and Learned Aggression for Black Female Athletes

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine if there is a significant relationship among youth contact sport participation, childhood religiosity, and aggressive behaviors later in life for African American females. According to Akers' social learning theory, behaviors are reinforced over time according to the intensity, duration, and frequency of social learning experiences; however, deviant and conforming behaviors are simultaneously learned and modified through the same cognitive and behavioral mechanisms. Furthermore, childhood religiosity, another social learning experience, may tip the scale on what behaviors are learned in contact sports. Therefore, data were collected on a non-random and purposive sample. Subsequently, multiple regression analysis was employed to assess the relationships among the variables. The study's findings indicated that childhood religiosity and sport participation did not simultaneously and uniquely predict total, physical, or verbal aggression. However, the study's findings indicated that the same independent variables, along with family and social risk factors, did jointly predict total, physical, and verbal aggression.