{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T07:01:59Z","timestamp":1790146919214,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Despite the rapid expansion of the e-sports industry in terms of economic scale, tournament systems, and professional demand, the issues of identity transformation, bodily discipline, emotional management, and their associated alienation during the professionalization of e-sports athletes remain insufficiently discussed. Grounded in Elias\u2019s theory of the civilizing process, this study aims to explore the professionalization process of e-sports athletes as they transition from amateur players to professional competitors, as well as the relationships among social constraints, bodily practices, and emotional internalization within the digital competitive arena.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Using historical analysis, case study, and semi-structured interviews, this study takes current and former professional e-sports athletes in China as empirical subjects.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study reveals three civilizing mechanisms in the professionalization process of e-sports athletes, namely the institutionalization of identity, the rationalization of bodily discipline, and the internalization of emotional management. The findings indicate that the professional development of e-sports athletes is driven by interdependency networks composed of capital, leagues, clubs, data platforms, and fan communities, with digital technology serving as a mediator to facilitate the transformation from external constraints to individual self-constraint.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study points out that the professionalization of e-sports also faces dilemmas such as the alienation of bodily discipline, imbalance in power dependency, and lack of health protection. This study proposes that a sustainable support mechanism for the professional development of e-sports athletes should be improved from two aspects, which are a dual-dimensional health protection system encompassing both physical and psychological aspects, and the enhancement of individual subjectivity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1912932","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T06:20:48Z","timestamp":1790144448000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From play to profession: understanding the professionalization of e-sports athletes from a civilizing process perspective"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Wei-jie","family":"Hu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Sport","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cong-hui","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"939","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2354.2012.00706.x","article-title":"On the optimality of line call challenges in professional tennis","volume":"53","author":"Abramitzky","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. 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