Determinants of Parents' Sideline‐Rage Emotions and Behaviors at Youth Soccer Games1

The present research extended and tested a motivational model of anger and aggression, derived from self‐determination theory. It was hypothesized that control‐oriented parents would exhibit more ego defensiveness, feel more pressure, and thus report higher levels of sport parental anger and aggression. Conversely, autonomy‐oriented parents were predicted to experience less ego defensiveness, feel less pressure, and thus report lower levels of sport parent anger and aggression. Participants were 340 parents of youth soccer players (boys and girls ages 8–16). The majority of participants reported experiencing anger and responded with varying levels of aggression. The results provide strong support for the hypotheses and suggest that control orientation determines parents' ego defensiveness, which in turn leads to anger and aggressive spectator behavior.     

Dimensions of social support in the experience of work engagement in middle age: A Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study

So far, the relationship between the various dimensions of social support and work engagement has not been widely examined in the literature. In this study, we examined the relationship of social support at work (from a colleague or supervisor) and social support in one’s private life (from a spouse, relative or friend) with various dimensions of work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption). The participants (N = 5,259–5,376, 46 years-old, 52.7% women) came from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study. Social support was evaluated with the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), and work engagement was assessed with a short version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). The data were analyzed using linear regression analyses. The results showed that high social support at work (p < 0.001) and in one’s private life (p < 0.001) were associated with higher total work engagement, higher vigor, higher dedication, and higher absorption. These findings were adjusted for gender, marital status, education and occupational status. The results were essentially unchanged when they were additionally adjusted for job strain and effort-reward imbalance. To conclude, our findings indicate that the experience of overall social support may play a role in the experience of work engagement.