PURPOSE This study aims to examine how widespread disclosures of sports violence in South Korea (2018–2021) were culturally internalized by current universitylevel elite athletes who were adolescents at the time. Drawing on Richard Dawkins’ concept of memes, this study examines the cultural transmission and internalization of sports violence as a meme and explores how such violent memes may have ttransformed into ethical ones. METHODS This study employed Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method and conducted semi-structured interviews with ten collegiate elite athletes recruited through snowball sampling. Data were analyzed through a four-step process to identify the cultural perception structures underlying sports violence. RESULTS Participants initially normalized violence as part of athletic training but later critically reinterpreted it in response to shifting public discourse and ethics education. They identified performance-driven ideologies and hierarchical structures as key cultural factors that legitimize violence. Consequently, many participants rejected such norms and repositioned themselves as ethical agents. Ethical memes were found to propagate primarily through the practices of coaches and senior athletes rather than through formal institutional systems. Some participants demonstrated posttraumatic growth by committing not to reproduce violent behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Sports violence persists through cultural repetition and imitation but is increasingly challenged by emerging ethical memes. This shift necessitates perceptual change and structural transformation within sports organizations, highlighting the importance of promoting ethical practices through education, leadership, and policy interventions.
