Integrating moral and achievement variables to predict doping likelihood in football: A cross-cultural investigation

ObjectivesIn our study, we had two objectives. Our first objective was to test a social-cognitive model of doping in sport. In this model, we examined moral variables (i.e., moral disengagement, moral identity, anticipated guilt) and performance motivational climate as predictors of doping likelihood and whether performance motivational climate moderates the relationship between moral disengagement and doping likelihood. The second objective was to determine whether this model is invariant across sex and country.DesignWe used a cross-sectional design.MethodParticipants were 1495 (729 females) elite football players (mean age 20.4 ± 4.4) recruited from 97 teams in the UK, Denmark and Greece. They completed questionnaires measuring the aforementioned variables.ResultsMoral disengagement positively predicted doping likelihood both directly and indirectly via anticipated guilt. The direct relationship was significant only when performance climate was perceived as average or high. Moral identity negatively predicted doping likelihood via both moral disengagement and anticipated guilt; and performance climate positively predicted doping likelihood. The model was largely invariant across sex and country.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that young elite football players in the UK, Denmark and Greece are less likely to use banned substances to enhance their performance, if they consider being moral an important part of who they are, and if they perceive a low performance climate in their team. Moral identity is likely to trigger feelings of guilt associated with the use of banned substances and to mobilize moral disengagement mechanisms. Our findings highlight the importance of moral variables in deterring the use of banned substances in sport.     

Doping use in sport teams: The development and validation of measures of team-based efficacy beliefs and moral disengagement from a cross-national perspective

ObjectivesThe main goal of this research focused on the development and validation of three instruments designed to assess athletes' self-regulatory efficacy in team contexts, team collective efficacy and team moral disengagement with relevance for doping use across three European countries.DesignThe research relied on three distinct studies. A first qualitative study focused on item development. The second study assessed the factor structure and internal reliability of each of the new team instruments. The third study provided evidence for instrument validity by assessing the hypothesis that efficacy measures and moral disengagement would contribute to team athletes' doping intentions. The latter two studies also focused on the relations among measures and on measurement reliability, both within and across countries.MethodThe first study relied on focus group data collected from twenty-one team sport professionals (mean age = 34; SD = 11.65). Four hundred and fourteen adolescent athletes (mean age = 16.69; SD = 1.55) participated in the second study, whereas seven hundred forty-nine adolescent team athletes (mean age = 16.43; SD = 1.69) participated in the third study. For the latter two studies, team athletes were recruited across Italy, Germany and Greece and provided data on the new team measures. Only athletes participating in the third study provided data on doping intentions.ResultsThe findings of the three studies supported the empirical goals of the investigation and provided evidence for the factor structure, reliability and validity of the team instruments. Furthermore, multi-group findings supported the hypothesis that the new instruments would have equivalent measurement and validity characteristics across the three European countries. The conclusions focus on the conceptual and practical implications of these findings.     

Psychophysiological responses to sport-specific affective pictures: A study of morality and emotion in athletes

ObjectivesThe link between morality and emotion has received little attention in the sport context. To address this issue, we examined whether moral disengagement, empathy, antisocial behaviour and psychopathy were associated with emotional reactions to unpleasant pictures depicting players being hurt or deliberately fouled in a sport context.DesignA cross-sectional design was employed.MethodTeam sport athletes (N = 66) completed measures of moral disengagement, empathy, antisocial behaviour and psychopathy and then viewed unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant sport pictures while emotional reactions to the pictures were assessed using valence and arousal ratings of the pictures as well as electrocutaneous startle blink, heart rate, skin conductance, and evoked potentials.ResultsMoral disengagement, empathy and psychopathy, but not antisocial behaviour, were associated with emotional reactions to the unpleasant pictures. Specifically, moral disengagement was related to attenuated startle blink responses and higher valence (less unpleasant) ratings, whereas empathy was associated with lower valence (more unpleasant) ratings. Psychopathy was associated with smaller startle blink responses and less heart rate deceleration.ConclusionOur findings provide support for the link between morality and emotion in athletes. Moral variables may be more closely linked with specific measures of emotion, highlighting the utility of taking a multi-measure approach in the assessment of emotion.     

Perfectionism and doping willingness in athletes: The mediating role of moral disengagement

Although trait perfectionism has been related to doping attitudes in athletes, research investigating variables that could account for relationships between perfectionism and doping outcomes has received scant attention. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether perfectionism was related to doping willingness directly, and indirectly via moral disengagement. We recruited a sample of 204 student athletes (M age = 19.12 years, SD = 1.17, n = 81 females - 39.70%) who completed measures of perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, doping moral disengagement, and doping willingness. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between perfectionistic concerns and doping willingness (β = .13, p < .05) and a nonsignificant relationship between perfectionistic strivings and doping willingness (β = −.01, p > .05). Moreover, bias-corrected bootstrapped indirect effects revealed that doping moral disengagement mediated the relationship between perfectionistic concerns and doping willingness (ab = .12; 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.21). The findings suggest that the relationship between perfectionistic concerns and doping extends beyond attitudes – to doping willingness – and the propensity to morally disengage explains why this is the case.     

A psychological intervention reduces doping likelihood in British and Greek athletes: A cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundCurrent attempts to prevent doping through deterrence and education have had limited success and have been constrained to one country. Targeting psychological variables that have been empirically associated with doping likelihood, intention, or behaviour may help in developing interventions that are effective in preventing doping in sport.ObjectivesGuided by social cognitive theory and empirical research, the main purpose of this research was to develop an anti-doping intervention that targets three psychological variables (i.e., anticipated guilt, moral disengagement, and self-regulatory efficacy) and determine whether it is more effective than an educational intervention in reducing doping likelihood in British and Greek athletes.MethodEligible participants were identified via a screening survey administered to 934 athletes in the United Kingdom and Greece. A total of 19 sport clubs (208 athletes) across the two countries were randomly assigned to either the psychological or the educational intervention. Each intervention consisted of six 1-h sessions delivered to small groups of athletes over 6–8 weeks. Athletes completed measures of doping likelihood, anticipated guilt, moral disengagement, and self-regulatory efficacy pre and postintervention and at a 2-month follow-up.ResultsA multilevel piecewise growth model was used to examine changes in study outcomes. Analysis showed that the psychological intervention was more effective than the educational intervention in reducing doping likelihood from pre to post, but the effects of the two interventions were similar at follow-up. These effects were not affected by country. Both interventions reduced moral disengagement from pre to post, and these effects were maintained at follow-up. The psychological intervention was also more effective than the educational intervention in increasing anticipated guilt from pre to follow-up.ConclusionsTargeting psychological variables in anti-doping interventions should aid our efforts to prevent doping in sport.     

Intrinsic motivation and individual deliberate practice are reciprocally related: Evidence from a longitudinal study of adolescent team sport athletes

ObjectiveThere is limited understanding of how sport motivation is associated with deliberate practice in youth team sport athletes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine prospective associations between intrinsic motivation and individual deliberate practice in specializing team sport athletes.DesignLongitudinal.MethodEstonian adolescent team sport athletes (N = 163; M_age – 13.6 years at the beginning of study) completed the Sport Motivation Scale and training diary across a 12-month period.ResultsBoth individual deliberate practice and intrinsic motivation increased over the 1-year period. Greater baseline intrinsic motivation predicted subsequent individual deliberate practice and greater initial individual deliberate practice predicted greater subsequent intrinsic motivation. The bidirectional relationship between athletes intrinsic motivation and individual deliberate practice were replicated across both time lags.ConclusionThe findings have significant implications for the importance placed on intrinsic motivation as a means of increasing of individual deliberate practice as well being an important outcome variable in specializing team sport athletes.     

The role of team and sport social contexts: Are three-level models needed in studies of sport conduct?

In this work, I examined how variation in sport conduct is allocated across the three different levels (i.e., athlete, team, and sport) in order to consider how the team and sport environment might contribute to athletes' sport conduct. Specifically, three-level models were utilized for sportspersonship, technical and mental gamesmanship, and instrumental aggression to examine whether there is unique variance due to sport and team clustering with athletes (N = 1412) nested within teams (J = 92) that are in turn nested within sports (K = 17). Results showed that clustering due to sport accounted for unique variance above and beyond team clustering. However, sex and invasion team sport explained most of the sport-level variance. The implication is that it is important to account for the sport clustering. However, when accounting for the sport-level clustering is not feasible, controlling for sex is necessary at the very least.     

The link between children's sport participation and self-esteem: Exploring the mediating role of sport self-concept

Background and PurposeSport participation is positively associated with indices of adjustment, such as self-esteem, among adolescent participants. Less is known about the processes through which younger children benefit from their sport participation. The purpose of this investigation was to test whether children's sport self-concept mediated the longitudinal associations between time spent in individual- and team-oriented organized sport activities and later self-esteem.MethodsWe used four waves of data from the Childhood and Beyond Study collected from three cohorts of elementary school-aged children (N = 987), their parents, and their teachers.ResultsFindings indicated that children who spent more time in team sports, but not time in individual sports, reported higher sport self-concept, which, in turn, was associated with higher self-esteem than their peers. Multi-group analyses suggested that these relations did not vary across gender, sport ability, sport importance beliefs, or peer acceptance.ConclusionsStudy results suggested that the relations between time spent in sports and children's sport self-concept depends, in part, on whether the time was spent in team or individual sports. This investigation highlighted the value of examining mediating processes so as to better explicate the association between time in sports and self-esteem.     

Autonomy support from parents and coaches: Synergistic or compensatory effects on sport-related outcomes of adolescent-athletes?

ObjectivesThis study examined how autonomy support from parents and autonomy support from coaches are associated with sport-related outcomes of adolescent-athletes. Two alternative hypotheses were proposed: (a) a synergistic socialization interaction in which high levels of autonomy support provided by parents and coaches are both needed to obtain the most positive sport-related outcomes, (b) a compensatory-protective interaction in which coaching autonomy support is more important for sport-related outcomes in athletes perceiving lower levels of parental autonomy support.DesignTwo studies using prospective designs.MethodStudy 1 was conducted with adolescent soccer players (N = 46) and Study 2 was conducted with gymnasts (N = 85). In both studies, athletes reported the extent to which they perceived their parents and coaches provided autonomy support. Athletes also completed scales assessing their motivation toward sport (Studies 1 and 2), situational motivation prior to and following a competition (Study 2), and need satisfaction (Study 1). Sport achievement and performance were also assessed in the form of goal attainment (Study 1), self-reported achievement following the competition (Study 2), and flow states (Study 2). Hierarchical moderated regressions were conducted in order to test our competing hypotheses.ResultsAnalyses provided support for the compensatory-protective interaction hypothesis. Coaching autonomy support was more strongly related to sport motivation, need satisfaction, sport achievement, and flow in athletes who perceived lower level of parental autonomy support.ConclusionsThis research program provided support for the study of the interactive effect of perceived autonomy support from distinct socialization agents (i.e., parents and coaches) and its impact on adolescent-athletes.     

The applicability of self-regulation theories in sport: Goal adjustment capacities,stress appraisals,coping, and well-being among athletes

ObjectivesWe examined a model, informed by self-regulation theories from the health psychology literature, which included goal adjustment capacities, appraisals of challenge and threat, coping, and well-being.DesignProspective.MethodsTwo-hundred and twelve athletes from the United Kingdom (n = 147) or Australia (n = 65), who played team (n = 135) or individual sports (n = 77), and competed at international (n = 7), national (n = 11), county (n = 67), club (n = 84), or beginner (n = 43) levels participated in this study. Participants completed measures of goal adjustment capacities and stress appraisals two days before competing. Athletes also completed coping and well-being questionnaires within 3 h of their competition ending.ResultsThe way an athlete responded to an unattainable goal was associated with his or her well-being in the period leading up to and including the competition. Goal reengagement positively predicted well-being, whereas goal disengagement negatively predicted well-being. Further, goal reengagement was positively associated with challenge appraisals, which in turn was linked to task-oriented coping, and task-oriented coping positively associated with well-being.ConclusionWhen highly-valued goals become unattainable, consultants and coaches could encourage athletes to generate alternative approaches to achieve the same goal or help them develop a completely new goal in order to promote well-being among athletes.     

Athlete doping confrontation efficacy and confrontation likelihood

Evidence supports the role of coach doping confrontation efficacy (DCE; Sullivan et al., 2015) as a deterrent against athletes’ doping cognitions (Boardley et al., 2019; Sullivan & Razavi, 2017), but the role of the athlete has largely been ignored. Current anti-doping campaigns encourage athletes to report doping misconduct (i.e., whistleblowing), but some athletes would prefer to confront the athlete directly (Erickson et al., 2017). Thus, it is important to consider what may contribute to athletes’ likelihood to confront a doping teammate or opponent. The purpose of this study was to determine whether DCE could predict an athlete’s likelihood to confront a doping teammate or opponent. Additionally, doping moral disengagement (MD) was included as a possible moderator of this relationship. Surveys were completed by 155 college athletes (n_male = 145) to measure their perceived DCE, doping MD, likelihood to confront a teammate, and likelihood to confront an opponent. Separate linear regression analyses were run for the two targets of confrontation. In the teammate model, both DCE and doping MD were significant predictors of confrontation likelihood. DCE was the only significant predictor in the opponent model. Neither model presented with a significant interaction, suggesting no moderation effect. Results suggest perceived DCE is associated with a greater likelihood to confront a doping athlete, regardless of whether they are a teammate or opponent; however, moral disengagement plays a greater role if the athlete is a teammate. These findings imply that confrontation may be the first line of defense against doping before whistleblowing action is taken. Research should continue to explore antecedents and consequences of athlete doping confrontation, providing greater insight into the whistleblowing process.     

Measuring sport fantasy proneness and deflated reality in sport and performance: Development and validation of two context-specific instruments

Fantasy-prone personalities and generalized states of pessimism and hopelessness have been linked to various behavioural, cognitive, and health related outcomes in the general population. Nevertheless, to date, knowledge of sport-specific fantasy proneness and athletes’ perception of deflated reality in sport is scarce, possibly due to a lack of appropriate psychometric instruments to examine these two important context-specific constructs. In this research, we developed the Sport Fantasy Proneness Scale (SFPS) and the Deflated Reality in Sport Scale (DRSS), first assessing the content validity of items for the instruments following a rigorous process. Through two cross-sectional samples (Study 1: Sample 1 N = 255, Sample 2 N = 260) and one longitudinal sample (Study 2: Sample 3 N = 118) of competitive athletes in the UK, we then examined factorial, convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity and measurement invariance (Study 1), as well as internal consistency, and test-retest reliability (Study 2) of the two new scales. Results revealed robust construct validity and reliability of scores on the two instruments and suggested very good invariance when implementing the new scales to athletes from different sports and competitive levels and good invariance for cross-gender comparisons. The new scales fill a gap in the sport psychology literature and provide researchers and practitioners with robust psychometric instruments to examine new research questions and tackle issues relevant to athletes’ sport-specific fantasy proneness and perceptions of deflated reality.     

Consequences of prosocial and antisocial behavior for the recipient

Statement of problemAlthough studies have examined antecedents of prosocial and antisocial behaviors in sport, little is known about the potential consequences of these behaviors for the recipient. In this research, we examined: (a) whether teammate prosocial and antisocial behaviors are related to athletes’ effort, performance, enjoyment and anger during a match and the mediating role of enjoyment and anger (Studies 1 and 2); and (b) whether prosocial and antisocial behaviors are related to commitment to play for one’s team and whether enjoyment and performance mediate these relationships (Study 2).MethodRight after a game, football/soccer (N = 203; Study 1) and basketball (N = 281; Study 2) players completed a multi-section questionnaire measuring the aforementioned variables.ResultsProsocial teammate behavior was positively related to effort, performance, and enjoyment, and enjoyment mediated the relationship between prosocial teammate behavior and effort and performance; prosocial teammate behavior was also positively related to commitment directly and indirectly through enjoyment and performance. Antisocial teammate behavior was positively related to anger and negatively related to effort and performance. Anger and performance mediated the effects of antisocial teammate behavior on effort and commitment, respectively.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate the importance of acting prosocially and not acting antisocially toward one’s teammates and have implications for enjoyment, effort, performance, and commitment in sport.     

Communication profiles and sport experiences of collegiate track and field athletes

ObjectivesAthletes often communicate with one another and exchange information, attitudes, and feelings that can influence their sport experiences. In an effort to better understand the sport communication context, the purpose of the current study was to (a) describe communication profiles of athletes (b) examine potential predictors (i.e., team identity, sex) of profile membership, and (c) examine the salience of these profiles by assessing profile group differences on athletes’ perceptions of burnout, engagement, satisfaction, and enjoyment.DesignCross-sectional survey-based study.MethodCollegiate track and field athletes (N = 219) completed measures of demographic information, team communication, team identity, burnout, engagement, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Communication profiles were examined using latent profile analysis. Using the three-step method in Mplus, possible prediction of profile membership and profile differences in perceptions of sport experiences were examined.ResultsThree profiles emerged: the Less Effective Communicators, the Supportive Communicators, and the Functional Communicators. Athletes with greater team identity were more likely to be in the Supportive Communicators profile (p < 0.001), male participants were more likely to be in the Functional Communicators profile (p < 0.05) than the other profiles, and female participants were less likely to be in the Less Effective Communicators profile than the Supportive Communicators profile (p < 0.05). The Less Effective Communicators had greater perceptions of burnout (ps < 0.01) and lower perceptions of engagement (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05), satisfaction (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001), and enjoyment (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05) than the Supportive and Functional Communicators. Supportive Communicators had greater satisfaction (p < 0.001) and enjoyment (p < 0.001) than the Functional Communicators.ConclusionsDifferent profiles of communication in track and field athletes may have implications for athletes’ sport experiences and warrant continued study.     

Personal values and unsanctioned aggression inherent in contact sports: The role of self-regulatory mechanisms,aggressiveness, and demographic variables

IntroductionTo date, research-examining factors related to the sociocognitive self-regulatory mechanisms governing unsanctioned aggression have received scant attention in applied sport psychology.ObjectiveA mediating model as influenced by various demographic variables was applied to explore the relationships between athletes’ personal values and their unsanctioned aggression directly and indirectly through the mediating role of resistive self-regulatory efficacy, moral disengagement, and aggressiveness.MethodA sample of 301 French competitors of different age (young: n = 200 and adult: n = 101), gender (male: n = 172 and female: n = 129), type of sport (high: n = 131 and low contact: n = 170), level of competition (beginner: n = 115, intermediate: n = 110, and advanced: n = 76), and length of practice (brief: n = 109, intermediate: n = 49, and extensive: n = 143) completed a questionnaire assessing the aforementioned variables.ResultsStructural equation modelling demonstrates that self-transcendence and self-enhancement values have only indirect negative and positive effects, respectively, on unsanctioned aggression through the full mediating effect of the mediators. Also, age, gender, and type of sport were predictive only of some personal values and mediators.ConclusionThese findings offer evidence that resistive self-regulatory efficacy, moral disengagement, and aggressiveness are mediators that fully govern the impact of athletes’ personal values and certain demographic variables on their unsanctioned aggression. Several limitations, implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

A national anti-doping education programme reduces doping susceptibility in British athletes

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s International Standard for Education instructs that national and international sport organisations evaluate their education programmes. We addressed this directive by examining the effectiveness of a national anti-doping programme. Athletes (N = 302, 41% female) completed measures of doping susceptibility, intention to use dietary supplements, Spirit of Sport and moral values, anti-doping knowledge and practice, and whistleblowing, prior-to and three-months after attending an anti-doping education programme. At three-month follow-up, athletes reported decreased doping susceptibility and intention to use dietary supplements coupled with increased importance of values, anti-doping knowledge, anti-doping practice and whistleblowing. Within-participant, moderated-mediation analyses revealed that programme-related changes in doping susceptibility were indirectly related to changes in intention to use dietary supplements, and, that this indirect relationship was moderated by moral values. These findings confirm the effectiveness of a national anti-doping education programme and highlight the contribution of dietary supplement use and personal values to changes in doping susceptibility.     

The relationship between visual attention and expertise in sports

ObjectivesGiven the prevalence of misperception and failed perception, particularly in attention-demanding team sports, surprisingly few studies have explored whether experts in team sports differ from other athletes and from non-athletes in their basic attention abilities.MethodIn this study, we examined group differences between experts in team handball (n = 40), athletes from non-team sports (n = 40), and novice athletes (n = 40) using a battery of three attention tasks: a functional field of view task, a multiple-object tracking task, and an inattentional blindness task.ResultsPerformance on the three attention tasks was largely independent, with no significant correlations among the tasks. Team sports experts showed no better performance on the basic attention tasks than did athletes from non-teams sports or novice athletes.ConclusionsThe finding that all basic attention tasks are largely independent provides preliminary support for the idea that attentional breadth, tracking performance, and inattentional blindness are distinct attentional processes. Our results demonstrate that sports expertise effects are unrelated to basic differences in attention—expertise does not appear to produce differences in basic attention and basic differences in attention do not appear to predict eventual expertise. Further experiments could focus on the ways in which more specific attentional strategies and processes contribute to sports performance.     

Predicting moral attitudes and antisocial behavior in young team sport athletes: A self‐determination theory perspective

Identifying the factors associated with prosocial and antisocial behaviors in youth sport may provide evidence to inform interventions aimed at promoting prosocial behaviors and minimizing rule transgressions in young athletes. We investigated relations among social‐contextual factors (e.g., social support), personal motivational factors (e.g., psychological need satisfaction and motivation), young athletes’ attitudes toward prosocial (e.g., keeping winning in proportion) and antisocial (e.g., acceptance of cheating and gamesmanship) behaviors, and their actual rule violations during matches in two samples of athletes. Participants in Sample 1 were young team sport athletes (N = 355) and participants in Sample 2 were young male futsal players (N = 296). Athletes in Sample 1 completed validated self‐report measures of perceived autonomy support, basic need satisfaction, and autonomous and controlled motivation from self‐determination theory, moral attitudes, and past cheating behaviors. Athletes in Sample 2 completed identical measures and two additional behavioral measures: athletes’ self‐reported number of yellow cards received during competition in the last 6 months and the number of yellow cards athletes received from referees in the subsequent 2 months from competition records. We found significant relations between psychological need satisfaction and self‐determined motivation, and athletes’ moral attitudes in both samples. These effects held when statistically controlling for past behavior. Importantly, our prospective analysis of Sample 2 indicated that attitudes toward antisocial behaviors predicted athletes’ rule violations during subsequent tournament matches. Findings indicate that promoting autonomous motivation and need satisfaction through autonomy support may foster attitudes toward prosocial behaviors, and minimize rule transgressions, in young athletes.     

Development and validation of the Eating Disorders Screen for Athletes (EDSA): A brief screening tool for male and female athletes

ObjectivesTo develop and validate the Eating Disorders Screen for Athletes (EDSA), a brief eating disorders screening tool for use in both male and female athletes. Methods: Data from Division I athletes at a Midwestern university (N = 434) were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by gender. Data from athletes competing at various levels at universities across the United States (N = 862) were then used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis by gender. Athletes from a range of lean and non-lean sports were included. Gender-specific empirically derived cut-offs on the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire were used to classify high eating disorder risk for ROC curve analysis. Measurement invariance by gender, level of competition, and sport type was also examined. Results: A six-item, one-factor structure for the EDSA was supported by EFA and CFA in both genders, and internal consistency was good for both male (α = 0.80) and female athletes (α = 0.86). ROC curve analyses indicated that the EDSA was highly accurate in predicting eating disorder risk status and identified a score of 3.33 as the optimal cut-off for both male (sensitivity = 0.96, specificity = .80) and female athletes (sensitivity = 0.96, specificity = .64). Results also supported strong measurement invariance for the EDSA by gender, level of competition (Division I versus club), and sport type (lean versus non-lean). Conclusions: The EDSA shows promise as a brief screening tool to identify male and female athletes at risk for eating disorders.