Who I am depends on what you do: Parents' form athletic-identities through their child's sport participation which has consequences for parent expectations and social control

Identity theory states that our sense of self is composed of multiple roles or identities (IDs) that we hold (parent, teacher, athlete). It has been suggested that enrolling children in sport has become a means through which parents define themselves, and that this is fueled by the increasing social value placed on athletic achievement. The present investigation assessed to what degree parents reported athletic-ID centering around their child's sport participation; examined potential differences in expectations and social control as a function of parents' ID; and determined the association between parents' ID and social networks, and behaviour defined as the pursuit of specialized sport opportunities. Parents of children aged 8-12 in recreational sport participated in this prospective, observational study. Data was collected at three time points. Parents' athletic-IDs ranged from 1.00-6.67/7. MANOVA (p=.002) revealed that those with stronger athletic-IDs reported exercising more social control over their child's sport engagement (Low=2.04, High=2.68) and had higher outcome expectations for their children to build a strong social group (Low=5.76, High=6.62) and achieve a high level in sport (Low=4.15, H=5.44, ps