Adapting the distributive justice scale to a professional sports setting: A case study of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO)”

Abstract

While prior research has predominantly concentrated on distributive justice in the context of collegiate athletics in the United States, limited attention has been devoted to distinct sport segments across diverse countries. It is expected that perceptions of fairness regarding resource allocation decisions in intercollegiate athletics would differ significantly from those in professional sports due to the contrasting structures and priorities inherent in these two segments of the sports industry. Consequently, the aim of the current research project was to adapt a distributive justice scale originally designed for intercollegiate athletics to the context of professional sports and examine its validity and reliability. Data for Study 1 (N = 447) were collected from spectators of three professional baseball teams located at southern area of South Korea, while data for Study 2 (N = 391) were collected from spectators of three professional baseball teams located in the Seoul Metropolitan area of South Korea. Overall, the distributive justice scale adapted in the current research demonstrated itself as a psychometrically reliable and valid measurement tool suitable for a professional sport context across two separate studies. Specifically, the distributive justice scale comprised three factors with 10 items (subprinciples): equality (3 item), equity (4 items), and need (3 items). The results of CFAs in both Study 1 and Study 2 indicated that factor loadings, Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were consistent with expectations. In the future, it would be essential to apply the distributive justice scale adapted in the current research to various professional sports leagues. © 2023, Editura Universitatii din Pitesti. All rights reserved.