Reflection on traditional sporting games: the impact of bodily involvement on empathic dimensions

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate bodily engagement and involvement in traditional sporting games (TSGs), with a focus on the development of empathy. Even though the current research on empathy has been focused on its emotional component, the name “empathy” alludes to a considerably more profound dimension than emotional engagement. Empathy refers to the ability to perceive another person’s private life through the exchange of contextual factors provided through interactive sports activities. In this study, based on real-world experiences, it has been demonstrated that traditional sporting games stimulate, preserve, or reveal empathic capacities in several ways. Games can show and sustain the full potential of empathic dispositions if they are present at a young age. Moreover, by examining empathy through the prism of a TSG, we recognized them as a source of relational empathy and feelings developed to various degrees by direct involvement. As a result, we may define empathy as an integrated pedagogy that can be more successfully conducted through TSGs which are multifaceted because of their internal and external logic systems. Essentially, the hypotheses discussed in this study allow us to postulate that the physical gaming involvement of players, such as role changes, influences the individual’s empathic dimensions. Furthermore, the characteristics of traditional sporting game interaction networks may serve as a source of encouragement or inspiration for a wide range of games (theatrical, social, etc.).