Sport participation of immigrants: antecedents and consequences of organisational commitment and ethnic identity amongst Koreans in USA

Abstract

In spectating sports, many studies have observed the impact of ethnic identity. Regarding sport participation, however, questions still linger about its impact. Key to predicting the sport participation of an immigrant group are their ethnic identity and commitment to the sport organisation. The main purpose of this study was to see how the sport participation of immigrants is affected by ethnic identity and commitment to a sport organisation. Using self-administered questionnaires, the study surveyed a sample of 229 Korean immigrants in the greater Dallas area. The immigrants were conveniently recruited at soccer and softball tournaments hosted by ethnic sport organisations. The collected data were analysed by structural equation modelling. The results suggest that the organisational commitment of participants was affected by their event satisfaction and perceived benefits. As such, commitment affected their ethnic identity and influences their ethnic peers. The peer influences affected ethnic identity. Finally, ethnic identity had an impact on sport participation. This study suggests that an ethnic sport organisation should aim at providing a quality sport experience.

Key words: Ethnic identity; Organisational commitment; Ethnic sporting events; Sport participation; Immigrants.