Do Sports Spur Success?

Do former high school athletes make better employees than nonathletes? Kevin M. Kniffin, from Cornell University (New York, USA),and colleagues completed two studies examining how participation in competitive youth sports appears to be relevant for early-career job prospects as well as late-in-life outcomes.  First, the researchers found that men and women who played a varsity high school sport tend to be more self-confident, have more self-respect, and demonstrate more leadership than people who were part of other extracurricular activities. Secondly, the team observed that former varsity athletes also reported significantly higher prosocial volunteerism and charitable activities. Submitting that: these findings open a wide range of possibilities regarding how one’s participation in competitive youth sports might influence the development of important skills and values beyond simply signaling … specific traits,” the study authors call for: “the need for closer attention to the relevance of sports in the workplace and beyond—including late-in-life charitable giving and voluntarism.”