Unrealistic Expectations and Future Status Coercion in Minor League Baseball Players’ Future-Oriented Labor

This study examines minor league baseball players’ future-oriented labor by interviewing 44 players and collecting data on 8,000 careers. Minor expectations of reaching Major League Baseball impacted how they evaluated their work in the present, leading them to tolerate unfair pay working conditions. We show that were moderately unrealistic, partly due managerial practices encouraging unrealistic expectations. contributes research showing ideology is based employers can promote create opportunities for future status coercion.