ABSTRACT
One of the most important beliefs in America is that personal striving results in upward mobility; it is the essence of the American dream. But American society, like other human societies, is characterized by stratification - that is, "differential access to whatever is of value in the society at a given point and over time, primarily because of social, not biopsychological variables". The literature suggests that African Americans may place a disproportionate emphasis on sport as an avenue of mobility and success. The issue, from the standpoint of this research, is whether perception of sport as a success route contributes to African American motivation for participation in sport. The format of data presentation is percentage distributions of questionnaire item responses by race, with a summary statistic that indicates the strength and significance of any differences. Race differences were revealed in several of the above motives, especially for African Americans in public schools.
