“It’s Not My Fault; It’s Not Serious”: Athlete Accounts of Moral Disengagement in Competitive Sport

Abstract

This study was designed to assess athletes’ use of moral disengagement in competitive sport. We conducted semistructured interviews with 24 elite male and female athletes in basketball and taekwondo. Participants described transgressive behaviors in competitive situations and reasons for adopting such behaviors. Content analyses revealed that the eight moral disengagement mechanisms identified in everyday Life (i.e., moral justification, advantageous comparison, euphemistic labeling, minimizing or ignoring consequences, attribution of blame, dehumanization, displacement of responsibility, and diffusion of responsibility; Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996) were germane in sport. However, the most frequently adopted mechanisms in sport (i.e., displacement and diffusion of responsibility, attribution of blame, minimizing or ignoring consequences, and euphemistic labeling) differed somewhat from those considered most salient in everyday life (i.e., moral justification, advantageous comparison, and euphemistic labeling). Moral disengagement mechanisms linked to projecting fault onto others (“It’s not my fault”) and minimization of transgressions and their consequences (“It’s not serious”) appear to be especially prominent in sport. The findings extend the sport moral disengagement literature by showcasing athlete accounts of moral disengagement.

Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior in Sport: The Role of Motivational Climate, Basic Psychological Needs, and Moral Disengagement

“…These SDT findings were positive given the evidence supporting adaptive psychological outcomes (e.g., subjective well-being, enjoyment, work/life satisfaction, less stress) stemming from autonomy-supportive climates and basic need satisfaction (Moreau & Mageau, 2012;. Levels of moral disengagement and antisocial behavior towards both teammates and opponents were low (Study 2), which was heartening given the negative outcomes (e.g., aggressive behavior, cheating, doping) associated with these personal characteristics (Bandura, 2006;Boardley & Kavussanu, 2011;Corrion et al, 2009). …”

“…These eight mechanisms are explained by Bandura (2002), and Boardley and Kavussanu (2011) have offered sport examples for each mechanism. Moral disengagement has been associated with antisocial behaviors in sport (e.g., Boardley et al, 2014;Corrion et al, 2009;Hodge et al, 2013;Stanger, Kavussanu, Boardley, & Ring, 2013), and inversely linked to prosocial behavior in team sports ).…”

“…Moral disengagement is the selective use of psychosocial manoeuvres that allow an individual to transgress moral standards without experiencing negative affect (e.g., guilt, shame), thereby decreasing constraint on future antisocial behavior (Bandura, 2006). The concept of moral disengagement has recently been examined with respect to antisocial and prosocial behaviors in sport (e.g., Boardley & Kavussanu, 2008Boardley, Grix & Dewar, 2014;Corrion, Long, Smith, & d'Arripe-Longueville, 2009). …”

Adaptation of the Attitudes to Moral Decision-Making in Youth Sport Questionnaire into Turkish Culture: A Validity and Reliability Study in a Turkish Sample

“…Bu bağlamda sportmenlik ve fair play ilkelerinin ihlalleri ya da bu ilkelerin farklı kavramlarla ilişkileri ile ilgili birçok çalışma araştırmacılar tarafından yapılmıştır. Bu çalışmalar arasında ahlaki çöküş (Corrion, Long, Smith ve Longueville, 2009;Boardley ve Kavussanu, 2011), ahlaki düşünme (Long, Pantaleon, Bruant ve Longueville, 2006), ahlaki işleyiş (Kavussanu, ve Spray, 2006), sporda hile (D'Arripe-Longueville, Corrion, Scoffier, Roussel ve Chalabaev, 2010), başarı amacı ve sportmenlik (Lemyre, Roberts ve Ommundsen, 2002;Gano-Overway, Guivernau, Magyar, Waldron ve Ewing, 2005), başarı amacı ve fair play (Río, Gimenez, Cecchini ve Mesa, 2012), hedef yönelimi ve sportmenlik (Dunn ve Dunn, 1999), motivasyonel iklim ve sportmenlik (Stornes ve Ommundsen, 2004;Miller, Roberts ve Ommundsen, 2004;), doping kullanımı ve sportmenlik (Chantal, Soubranne ve Brunel, 2009), anti sosyal davranış (Sage ve Kavussanu, 2008;Boardley ve Kavussanu, 2010;Hodge ve Lonsdale, 2011;Bortoli, Messina, Zorba ve Robazza, 2012), spor eğitimi modeli (Perlman ve Karp, 2010), konuları yer almaktadır. Ayrıca sporun çocukların ahlaki ve karakter gelişimine olumlu yönde etkilerine dair bazı çalışmalar da vardır.…”

The final frontier of anti-doping: A study of athletes who have committed doping violations

“…The process of moral disengagement has observed in a variety of sporting Final frontier: 8 transgressions (Boardley & Kavussanu, 2007;Corrion, Long, Smith, & d'Arripe-Longueville, 2009;Lucidi, Grano, Leone, Lombardo, & Pesce, 2004;Lucidi et al, 2008), although to our knowledge no peer reviewed study has attempted to examine moral disengagement in the context of studying athletes who have committed doping violations.…”