Contemporary versions of Olympic education and the underlying concept of Olympism draw largely on the nineteenth century writings of French aristocrat and founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin (Lenskyj, 2012). A number of scholars (Binder, 2005; Bronikowski, 2006; Culpan & Wigmore, 2010; Naul, 2008; Parry, 2006) treat the Olympic movement, which is based on Olympism philosophy, as a form of education. Because Olympism is a philosophy of life (Binder, 2005), it is oriented not just toward the professional athlete but, rather, toward every individual; not just toward a short period in people’s lives but, rather, to a lifelong process; not just to sport activity but, rather, to combining in a balanced whole, the qualities of mind, body, and will (Parry, 2006). In this context, the objective of Olympic education is the development of positive values within the context of participation in sport (Binder, 2012), during which process students not only become acquainted with the Olympic movement, and its ideals and values, but are also encouraged and motivated to practice them in sport and everyday activities (Żukowska & Żukowski, 2010).

Although these values and principles of behavior, such as fairness, equality, and morality, are highlighted in the Olympic movement, the content of Olympic education continues to be discussed (Binder, 2012). In addition, the extent to which these values and behavioral principles are actually practiced within Olympic sport itself and in the Olympic industry, is being questioned (Lenskyj, 2012). Nevertheless, various Olympic education programs are being developed at national and local levels. However, empirical research concerning the efficiency of such programs is lacking.

Although instruments for the evaluation of Olympic education programs have been developed (Grammatikopoulos, Tsigilis, Koustelios, & Theodorakis, 2005), the focus has mostly been on the knowledge that students of various ages possess about Olympic ideals (Telama, Naul, Nupponen, Rychtecký, & Vuolle, 2002), students’ attitudes toward Olympic values (Bronikowski & Bronikowska, 2009), youth’s understanding of Olympic ideals (Rychtecký & Naul, 2005), the attitude of youth toward fair play as a core value of Olympic education (Żukowska & Żukowski, 2010), and also the opinion of Olympic athletes about the role of the Olympic Games in the development of their personal identity (Barker, Barker-Ruchti, Rynne, & Lee, 2012). For example, Budreikaitė (2012) examined the impact of an Olympic education program on the moral values of sixth-grade students. Researchers have revealed the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed at developing fair play behavior in students at a school where an Olympic education program was implemented (Hassandra, Goudas, Hatzigeorgiadis, & Theodorakis, 2007).

Olympic education is based on the Olympic movement, with a focus on Olympic values. However, contemporary Olympic sport is not without deficiencies that are also manifested in the sport of children and youth (Kavussanu, 2006), and sport activities are one of the most important extracurricular activities (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006). Empirical evidence indicates that athletes’ behavior depends on coach and spectator behavior, team norms, sportspersonship attitudes (Shields, LaVoi, Bredemeier, & Power, 2007), and motivational climate (Hodge & Lonsdale, 2011). However, to our knowledge, there is no empirical research in which the focus is on the impact on student achievement as a result of participation in Olympic education programs involving an entire school community. We, thus, examined the effect of an integrated Olympic education program on adolescent athletes’ Olympic values and their prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport.

In Lithuania, the integrated Olympic education program has been implemented since 2002 and, most recently, in more than 100 schools. The program content is integrated into the formal and informal education process. The entire school community contributes to the implementation of the Olympic education program, the aim of which is to develop an appropriate attitude in children and youth toward the issues of contemporary sport, and to instill both motivation for regular exercise, and knowledge on the ideas of Olympism and the development of the Olympic Games. The program is taught during classes in various subjects, thus integrating Olympic education ideas into the subject content and teaching the principles of fair competition.

Although the Lithuanian Olympic education program is oriented toward children of all ages, our focus in this study was on adolescent athletes. Our aims were to extend previous research by (a) examining the relationship between adolescent athletes’ attitudes toward Olympic values and their actual behavior in sport, and (b) analyzing the integrated Olympic education program as a values and prosocial behavior education technology. As Olympic education is a positive tool for youth development, we hypothesized that adolescent athletes representing a school where the integrated Olympic education program was implemented, would possess more significant positive Olympic values than would adolescent athletes from a school where this program was not implemented, and the athletes in the former category would also behave more prosocially in sport.

Method

Participants

Participants were from 30 Lithuanian schools, comprising main schools, secondary schools, and gymnasiums. We selected at random a number of schools, from which we selected at random a number of classes. Of the 30 schools, there were 15 where the integrated program of Olympic education was implemented and 15 where the program was not implemented. The total sample consisted of 2,335 adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years. We dealt only with the data of students involved in sport; that is, those who indicated during the course of the study that they were regularly attending sport practice and participating in competition (N = 747; 482 boys and 265 girls). The students had participated in sport for an average of 3.5 (SD = 2.54) years. They were divided into two groups: participants with sport experience of under or equaling 3 years (n = 435) and participants with an experience exceeding 3 years (n = 312). The number of adolescent athletes according to gender, χ² = 2.75 (1), p > .05, and to sport experience, χ² = 1.19 (1), p > .05, were the same statistically for the schools implementing, versus not implementing, the Olympic education program.

Procedure

Before commencing, we obtained permission to conduct the study from the Lithuanian Olympic Academy, the District Educational Centre, and school administrators. Once permission was obtained, we contacted senior management of the target schools. Prior to collection of data, parental informed consent forms were completed. Participation was voluntary and informed consent was obtained from all participants. To encourage honesty in responding, the students were informed that their responses were anonymous and confidential, and that they could withdraw at any time. The survey forms were distributed to the students, and the time for responses was not limited. The survey was completed in a classroom with one of the researchers present. At the end of the survey, the forms were placed in an envelope, which was then sealed. The survey was carried out in the same way in each school.

Measures

Olympic values. To measure Olympic values we used the Olympic Questionnaire (Telama et al., 2002). The questionnaire comprises 52 items, consisting of four factors: human values of Olympism (e.g., ethnic tolerance, honesty), social virtues of Olympism (e.g., solidarity, peace), individual pursuit of excellence (e.g., cooperation, accomplishment), and personal profit of professionalism (e.g., pride, popularity). The participants rated each item on a 4-point scale (from 1 = absolutely disagree to 4 = totally agree). Alpha coefficients showed good-to-very-good levels of internal consistency. They were .89 for social virtues of Olympism, .83 for human values of Olympism and individual pursuit of excellence, and .72 for personal profit of professionalism.

Prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport. We measured prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport by using the 20-item Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Sport Scale (PABSS; Kavussanu & Boardley, 2009). The scale had previously been validated with student athletes (Šukys, 2010). Participants rated each item on a 4-point scale (from 1 = never to 5 = very often) on how often they had engaged in the behavior. The scale is used to measure two factors representing prosocial behavior (with teammates, α = .87, and opponents, α = .77), and two factors representing antisocial behavior (with teammates, α = .87, and opponents, α = .92).

Students’ sport participation was assessed with the question “Do you participate in sports?” There were three possible answers: “Yes, I attend training sessions, seek high sports scores, and participate in competitions,” “Yes, I exercise in my free time to stay in good physical condition but I do not attend regular sports training sessions, and I do not seek high sports scores,” and “I only exercise and play sports in physical education lessons.”

Data Analysis

All analyses were performed using SPSS version 19.0. The analysis included Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, descriptive statistics, independent samples t tests, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression calculations. Statistical significance was set at p < .05 for all tests.

Results

We first investigated demographic differences. The male adolescents scored significantly higher than did the female adolescents on two scales of the Olympic ideals: social virtues of Olympism, M (SD) = 3.13 (0.54) versus 3.03 (0.51), respectively, t(745) = -2.38, p < .05, and personal profit of professionalism, M (SD) = 2.76 (0.56) versus 2.58 (0.54), respectively, t(745) = -4.32, p < .001. The female adolescents scored significantly higher than did the male adolescents on prosocial behavior with teammates, M (SD) = 3.82 (0.88) versus 3.57 (1.06), respectively, t(745) = 3.27, p < .001, but significantly lower on antisocial behavior with teammates, M (SD) = 1.86 (0.84) versus 2.22 (0.96), respectively, t(745) = -4.99, p < .001, and antisocial behavior with opponents, M (SD) = 1.61 (0.85) versus 2.21 (1.02), respectively, t(745) = -8.12, p < .001. There were no statistically significant differences in the comparison of sport experience in evaluating Olympic ideals but there were differences in terms of behavior in sport. Students with longer sport experience scored significantly higher on prosocial behavior with teammates, M (SD) = 3.90 (1.14) versus 3.53 (1.03), respectively, t(745) = -4.71, p < .001), than on prosocial behavior with opponents, M (SD) = 3.03 (1.45) versus 2.78 (1.11), respectively, t(745) = -2.66, p < .01.

Correlation analyses showed that the Olympic values personal profit of professionalism subscale was positively correlated with antisocial behavior and negatively correlated with prosocial behavior (see Table 1). The other Olympic values subscales were positively correlated with prosocial behavior with teammates.

We next investigated differences between the adolescent athletes from schools implementing and schools not implementing the integrated Olympic education program (see Table 2). The adolescents differed in the Olympic Questionnaire in human values of Olympism, social virtues of Olympism, and individual pursuit of excellence. Athletes from schools in which the Olympic education program was implemented scored higher more often than did athletes from school where the program was not implemented, on prosocial behavior with teammates and opponents.

A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of gender, sport experience, and the Olympic education program on Olympic values and behavioral factors in terms of sport variables. In each analysis, demographic variables of gender, sport experience, and Olympic education were included as independent variables, with Olympic values and athletes’ behavior in sport as dependent variables. Analyses showed that Olympic education only was a significant predictor of human values of Olympism (β = .10, p < .01; F = 4.09, p < .05, adjusted R² = .08). A significant impact of gender (β = .10, p < .01) and the Olympic education program (β = .09, p < .01) was established (F = 6.19, p < .01, adjusted R² = .06) for social virtues of Olympism. A significant effect of the Olympic education program (β = .08, p < .05) only was established (F = 3.17, p < .05, adjusted R² = .09) for the individual pursuit of excellence. Gender only was found to be a significant predictor (β = .15, p < .001; F = 10.39, p < .001, adjusted R² = .14) of personal profit of professionalism.

Analyses showed that gender (β = .13, p < .001), sport experience (β = .17, p < .001), and Olympic education (β = .10, p < .01), were significant predictors (F = 12.26, p < .001, adjusted R² = .16) of prosocial behavior with teammates. Sport experience (β = .10, p < .01) and Olympic education (β = .07, p < .05) were significant predictors of prosocial behavior with opponents (F = 4.17, p < .01, adjusted R² = .04). Gender (β = .18, p < .001) only was found to be a significant predictor of antisocial behavior with teammates (β = .18, p < .001) and antisocial behavior with opponents (β = .29, p < .001).

Discussion

Our results in this study revealed that adolescents from schools where an integrated Olympic education program is implemented, exhibited human values of Olympism more prominently than did those from schools where the program is not implemented. Our empirical findings support previous researchers’ recommendations that these values should be given top priority in Olympic education (Patsantaras 2008; Peneva, 2009). For example, Budreikaitė (2012) reported that students participating in an Olympic education program highlighted more prominently than did other students, the importance of values such as dignity, responsibility, honesty, and justice. Likewise, in our study, athletes from schools implementing an Olympic education program, more explicitly emphasized social virtues of Olympism than did students from schools where there is no such program. As peace, solidarity, togetherness, and nondiscrimination are social values, and are highlighted in the Olympic charter, this result was not unexpected. In this respect, a stated goal in the integrated Olympic education program in Lithuania, is to help develop a peaceful society.

Our results showed that athletes from schools where an integrated Olympic education program is implemented, emphasized Olympic values associated with individual pursuit of excellence more prominently than did athletes attending schools where there is no such program. However, Šukys and Majauskienė (2013) found that students at schools implementing or not implementing Olympic education did not differ in their evaluation of these values. This inconsistency may be because, in this study, the data of students participating in sport were analyzed. The values assigned to individual pursuit of excellence, such as self-control, physical fitness, and respect for rules or sportspersonship, are more likely to be associated with sport activity and are important in sport participation. Furthermore, the Olympic education program in physical education classes is principally oriented toward promotion of actual participation and development of fair play behavior in sport, whereas, during other classes, the Olympic Games and their history are integrated into the program. In addition, the Olympic education program is integrated not only into the school curriculum, but also includes sports events and festivals during which Olympic values are promoted. This provides an explanation for the differences we found in the prosocial behavior in sport of the student athletes. The prosocial behavior of athletes is affected by internal personality factors and external contextual factors, such as attitudes towards fair play when competing, and also moral reasoning when facing ethical dilemmas in sport (Shields et al., 2007), in the context of the intangible environment created by the coach, the requirements faced by the athletes, and the demonstrated example of fair play behavior (Hodge & Lonsdale, 2011).

Earlier researchers have established a relationship between moral values and positive attitudes toward prosocial behavior in sport, and negative attitudes toward antisocial behavior in sport (Lee, Whitehead, Ntoumanis, & Hatzigeorgiadis, 2008). Our findings, showing a weak relationship between antisocial behavior and values such as popularity, pride, and victory at all costs (personal profit of professionalism), only partly confirm this. It is important to note, in addressing these differences, that in this study we did not examine the personal values of students but rather their Olympic values, which reveal their attitudes toward Olympic sport.

In sum, our findings revealed the effect of the integrated Olympic education program in Lithuanian schools on adolescent athletes’ Olympic values and prosocial behavior in sport. Although this study was not experimental, as we only compared the data of adolescents from schools implementing and those not implementing the integrated Olympic education program, the participants were from schools that had been implementing the Olympic education program for at least four years. Consequently, our results corroborate those of previous researchers regarding the positive impact of this program on students. Further researchers could also provide insight into how an Olympic education program influences personal values and brings about behavioral changes not only in sport activity but also in everyday life.

Despite the importance of these findings, there are several limitations in this study. First, this study was cross-sectional and not experimental in design. Second, we dealt with students’ Olympic values, but not their personal values, which could be related more to behavior. Third, although we investigated athletes’ behavior in a sport setting, there is still a lack of data on the relationship of Olympism and Olympic education with behavior outside a sport setting. Further researchers could provide insight into how Olympic education affects personal values and behavioral changes not only in sport activity but also in everyday life.

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Saulius Šukys, Department of Health, Physical and Social Education, Lithuanian Sports University, Sporto 6, LT-44221 Kaunas, Lithuania. Email: [email protected]