1996/03/01 by Gordon A. Bloom, Michael D. Smith
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression #Sport and Mega-Event Impacts #Sports, Gender, and Society
paper · doi:10.1123/ssj.13.1.65
openalex publication_date 1996/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Cultural spillover theory holds that the more a society tends to legitimate the use of violence to attain ends for which there is widespread social approval, the greater the likelihood of illegitimate violence. This study was a test of cultural spillover theory as it applies to hockey violence. Based on data from a representative sample survey of Toronto hockey players and a comparison group of nonplayers, we tested the proposition that violence in hockey “spills over” into violence in other social settings. The results offer support for a cultural spillover explanation of hockey violence. Older players in highly competitive select-leagues were more likely to approve of violence and to act violently in other social settings than were younger select-league players, house-league players, and nonplayers of all ages.