Understanding Conceptions of Fairness in a Leisure Activity: Comparing Attitudes Towards Cheating in Adult Recreational Softball between 2008 and 2024

The problem of cheating in sports has received some attention in the sociological literature, but far more attention in popular media as news stories about sports cheating gain national and international attention. In sociology, studies have examined cheating in a variety of sports, including junior tennis (Casper 2006), professional running (Mewett 2002), and recreational softball (Peterson 2016). One of the themes that emerged from Peterson (2016) was that adult recreational softball players did not always embrace the technical definitions of cheating. Athletes argued that certain acts were not cheating even though those actions violated the rules. They also argued that cheating was often a response to perceived cheating by opponents. Peterson (2016) drew from an online survey originally conducted in 2008. Since that time, many softball organizations have implemented rules designed to tackle cheating in softball as well as to improve player safety. The focus of this study is to examine how attitudes towards cheating have changed in the past 15 years and how players now view cheating in light of these changes made by various organizations to combat cheating. For this study, new data was collected in early 2024 assessing the attitudes of adult recreational softball players on cheating in their sport as well as their own engagement in cheating. The survey was presented online by posting in various softball facebook groups and there were over 2500 respondents. While the sample is not representative, it is large enough to provide important insights. Results from the 2024 survey will be compared with the 2008 survey which had over 1700 respondents. This presentation ties to the conference theme through its focus on cheating and, consequently, fairness and justice. Understanding how people view cheating can provide insight into what we “know” about fairness in recreational activities.