Development and Validation of the Competitive Language Intentionality Inventory (CLII):
A Philosophical Measure of Intentionality Amongst Sport Competitors
Keywords:
competitive language, intentionality, moral community, sport ethics, trash talk, smack talkAbstract
Sport behavior of athletes during competition categorizes behavior associated with the interpretive action coined as “trash talk” has negatively framed the intentions of competitors in sport. The present paper fills a theoretical gap by empirically examining the intentionality of elite competitive athletes. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the empirical and philosophic the intentionality of competitive language with 25 pilot items (n = 720). In a two-study method, this paper sought to establish a transtheoretical tool measuring four factors: Perceived Competence, Decompetition, Moral Community, and Effort Expenditure. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted, revealing a 16-item, two-factor model measuring Moral Community and Socialized Ethics. Concurrent validity was supported through correlational analyses. The internal consistency reliability of measure was .865. Regression results indicate an overall model of two predictors (Sport and Geographical Origin) that significantly predict the use of competitive language in competitive sport, R2 = .177, R2 adj = .066, F(7, 702) = 6.86, p = .0001. This model accounted for less than 1% of the variability in the intentionality of competitive language use and interpretation. Overall, results support the CLII as an inductive tool to understand the socialized behavior of the athlete community within competitive environments.
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