Homophobia in sport : perceptions of sport psychologists and frequency of consulting opportunities

The purpose of this study was to explore the concepts of homosexuality and homophobia in relation to the perceptions and experiences of sport psychologists. Due to the nature of their work, sport psychologists may be in an opportune position to help individuals deal with the personal or performance problems of athletes which may be associated with issues of homophobia and questions of sexual orientation. In this study an attempt was made to determine how often sport psychologists deal with such issues in a counseling setting and whether the gender or occupational position of the sport psychologist played a role in such counseling. One hundred thirteen sport psychologists, certified through either the United States Olympic Committee or the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, were sent a "Homophobia in Sport" questionnaire. Data gathered from the 87 respondents indicated that they spent little of their time (less than 1%) dealing with issues related to homophobia or homosexuality. The results also revealed no significant impact of gender or occupational emphasis of the consultant on the amount of time spent on such issues.