Date of Award

Summer 2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management

First Advisor

Samuel Y. Todd

Abstract

Passion has been extensively researched from the perspective of athletes, entrepreneurs, and employees. In this dissertation, the researcher conducted an in-depth investigation of the way passion functions in sport job attraction. The two-stage experimental design combines the pioneer biometric methodology with qualitative inquiry, and 25 job seekers selected from a larger sample participated in the biometric lab. Results indicate that the interplay between cognitive and affective appraisals is critical in explaining sport job seekers’ highly individualistic and discriminative attraction toward work opportunities in sport. In particular, sports job seekers foster work passion through their multiple identifications with sport (playing history, fandom, etc.), attach emotional values to the salient identifications, and become motivated to extend their unique sport identity through work in sport. It is concluded that sport job seekers appraise work opportunities based on their most salient identification with sport and only become emotionally aroused when they sense a fit. Overall, this dissertation adds to the literature (person-environment fit, social identity theory, etc.) by examining how work passion functions in sports job attraction and provides practical implications for sports industry practitioners.

Rights

© 2024, Jiayao Qi

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