Sports experiences as anticipatory socialization: How does communication in sports help individuals with intellectual disabilities learn about and adapt to work?

ABSTRACT

Organizational socialization scholarship has demonstrated that various sources and experiences shape people’s expectations and understanding of work. Yet we understand less about how activities outside of school and work teach us about employment. Thus, the current study explored how sports communication outside of work helps socialize adults to work. We focused on individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), a population that has lacked scholarly attention. Interviews and observations of working Special Olympics athletes illuminated how sports communication socialized individuals by helping athletes learn valuable skills used at work, adapt to various job duties, and develop confident work identities. This study showcases the unique role of sports communication in the process of anticipatory socialization, highlights sports activities as another way individuals engage in identity construction, and extends established research on sports and disability by demonstrating how sports skills percolate into work.

KEYWORDS:

• Organizational communication
• sports communication
• sports and disability
• anticipatory socialization
• individuals with intellectual disabilities

Acknowledgements

We offer a special thanks to the individuals who participated in this study and the graduate students who assisted in collecting this data. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers who helped shape this publication, and we appreciate feedback from Heather Carmack and others during this paper’s presentation at the National Communication Association’s 104th Annual Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephanie L. Dailey

Stephanie L. Dailey (PhD, The University of Texas at Austin, 2014) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University.

Regina O. Alabere

Regina O. Alabere (MA, Texas State University, 2018) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication & Film at the University of Memphis.

Jacob E. Michalski

Jacob E. Michalski (MA, Texas State University, 2018) works as a Global Implementation Specialist at CBRE.

Courtney I. Brown

Courtney I. Brown (MA, Texas State University, 2018) works as a Data and Research Associate at Martha’s Table.