Embracing World Cup fever, Birmingham investigates sportsmanship

Now that the world is officially World Cup crazy - sports psychologists at the University of Birmingham are investigating sportsmanship. They are looking at what factors are likely to cause footballers to adopt antisocial behaviour in the quest for victory.

Dr Ian Boardley, lecturer in Sport Psychology and Education at the University of Birmingham, explains, ‘Frequency of antisocial behaviour is often increased in sport compared to other life contexts, especially when the stakes are high. The degree to which players will engage in offensive verbal and physical behaviour to gain unfair advantage is informed by their motivation.’ 

He continues, ‘If they are focused on winning at all costs they are more likely to take part in this kind of activity, whereas if they are more concerned with developing their own personal skills, self-improvement, and play for the pure love of the game they may be less likely to do so.’

This research led by Dr Boardley has highlighted several psychosocial mechanisms that underpin transgression in sport - explaining why some sportspeople don’t experience the normal feelings of  remorse that would usually accompany antisocial acts.

Football is associated with higher levels of anti-social behaviour and moral disengagement than some other sports. Dr Boardley explains, ‘There may be several reasons for this, including culturally-acceptable behaviour, soccer being a male-dominated sport, crowd response and the predominant motivational climates that predominate in football training. These may encourage aggressive behaviour and cultivate an obsession with victory.’

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Content added on 15th June 2010.

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