Topic > The Negative Impacts of Gaming and Sportsmanship

In a moral context, it is important to understand the extension of unethical conduct on the field to the inevitable corruption of personal life that becomes part of social interaction. This type of behavior can extend to sexual misconduct (rape, marital infidelity, etc.), violence, and criminal activity. In modern sports culture, the popularity and great success of athletes tends to make them think that the sport they play is also played in their personal lives. This form of public personality influences how they view legal conduct and morality as a means to achieving success in family life, personal choices, and managing their daily activities off the field. Public image determines how they interact with other people outside of their professional career. Furthermore, the promotion of immoral and unethical behavior in sporting institutions sets another precedent where athletes are encouraged to behave through a gaming model. The enculturation of corrupt business practices tends to create a culture of winning as the primary goal of achieving greater wealth and financial prosperity over sporting qualities that can enhance the ethical and moral culture of athletic performance. These moral aspects of off-field behavior define the underlying extension of skill in the game as part of immoral behavior by professional athletes: fans may now find athletes on and off the field participating in all kinds of illegal activities and immoral, but the general perception of athletes representing goodness reigns as the supreme myth” (Whitt & Perlich, 2014,