Aggression in sport
Aggression in sport
Most people view aggression as a negative psychological characteristic, however some sport psychologists agree that aggression can improve performance (Widmeyer & Birch, 1984).
This is called an assertive behaviour (Bredemeier, 1994), where a player will play within the rules of the sport at a very high intensity, but will have no intention to harm an opponent. In sport, aggression has been defined into two categories:
Hostile aggression is when the main aim is to cause harm or injury to your opponent. Instrumental aggression is when the main aim is achieve a goal by using aggression. For example a rugby player using aggression to tackle his opponent to win the ball. The player is not using his aggression to hurt the opponent but rather to win the ball back.
Coulomb and Pfister (1998) conducted a study looking at aggression in high-level sport. They found that experienced athletes used more instrumental aggression in which they used to their advantage and that hostile aggression was less frequently used. Experienced athletes used self-control to help them with their aggression.
This is called an assertive behaviour (Bredemeier, 1994), where a player will play within the rules of the sport at a very high intensity, but will have no intention to harm an opponent. In sport, aggression has been defined into two categories:
- hostile aggression and
- instrumental aggression (Silva, 1983).
Hostile aggression is when the main aim is to cause harm or injury to your opponent. Instrumental aggression is when the main aim is achieve a goal by using aggression. For example a rugby player using aggression to tackle his opponent to win the ball. The player is not using his aggression to hurt the opponent but rather to win the ball back.
Coulomb and Pfister (1998) conducted a study looking at aggression in high-level sport. They found that experienced athletes used more instrumental aggression in which they used to their advantage and that hostile aggression was less frequently used. Experienced athletes used self-control to help them with their aggression.
A question that can be asked is where does this aggression come from?
The frustration aggression theory (Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939) states that aggression occurs because frustration arises due to a goal blockage.
However this theory states that every time a player becomes frustrated this will always cause aggression. This theory does not take into account any other intrinsic or extrinsic factors.
The frustration aggression theory (Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939) states that aggression occurs because frustration arises due to a goal blockage.
However this theory states that every time a player becomes frustrated this will always cause aggression. This theory does not take into account any other intrinsic or extrinsic factors.
On the other hand the general aggression model (Anderson & Bushman, 2002) argues that situational and personal factors play a role in causing a person to behave aggressively.
Therefore, a player’s personality will play a large role in determining whether they are aggressive or not in certain situations. This model also takes into account socially learnt cues and therefore if a player has been taught not to be aggressive in certain situation then he will not use aggression.
Therefore, a player’s personality will play a large role in determining whether they are aggressive or not in certain situations. This model also takes into account socially learnt cues and therefore if a player has been taught not to be aggressive in certain situation then he will not use aggression.
It can be seen that aggression comes from a variety of sources and it is important to understand where these sources stem from. Sport stressors allow us to understand what causes an athlete to become frustrated which can lead to aggression and a decline in performance.
In a player’s career they will come across a number of high-pressured situations where they will have to deal with many stressors. These can range from personal stressors such as worry and anxiety, to situational stressors such as team-related problems. Much research on stress in sport has been focused on golf and figure skaters, therefore identifying stressors in a team environment is very important (Gould, Jackson & Finch, 1993). Stress can have a negative impact on performance and has been shown to even increase the likelihood of injury (Blackwell & McCullagh, 1990). Noblet and Gifford (2002) studied Australian football players, looking at the different stressors that they experience. They found that the pressure to perform constantly, poor form and high expectations were all key stressors that affected the players. As well as this, players also found it hard to balance their sport and other commitments. This research can prove very important for psychologists and how they help these players deal with these stressors. In elite sport the main type of stress that has been studied is organisational stress. Shirom (1982) defined organisational stress as “work related social psychological stress”. Woodman and Hardy (2001) investigated organisational stress in elite athletes and they found that there were four main stress issues, which were personal, team, leadership and environmental. Within team issues a large factor that caused stress was tension among athletes. Fletcher and Hanton (2003) conducted a similar study looking at organisational stress and they found that the coach athlete tension was a large contributing factor. Therefore strict coaching and negative feedback can affect performance in many ways.
Learning how to deal with stresss is key as players must find ways to overcome these problems. In sport psychology, little research has been focused on the coping processes of elite players. It has only just recently been of interest to sport psychologists and is something which needs to be addressed in more detail to improve our understanding (Hardy, Jones & Gould, 1996). Looking at the coping processes of young elite players will allow us to understand how the players deal with stressful situations.
Types of aggression
Aggression is a broad principle with many aspects to it. Tenebaum et al (1997) state that aggressive behaviour can be classified according to the primary reinforcement sought via the act.
There are 2 types of aggression both with different reinforcements behind them; these are
- Hostile and
- Instrumental aggression (Husman & Silva, 1984).
The purpose of Hostile aggression is to soley harm somone (Woods, 2001) and Tenebaum et al (1997).
This form of aggression is often known as “reactive aggression” as it can be spontaneous and is accompanied by anger (Woods 2001). A perfect illustration of this in sport is Roy Keane, see the BBC link then watch the video.
The second form of aggression is Instrumental aggression. Woods (2001) & Silva, 1980) state that instrumental aggression is a means to an end. Tenebaum et al (1997) secondthis saying Instrumental aggression is where the major reinforcement is the achievement of a subsequent goal.
This is also called channelled aggression and is not accompanied by anger (Woods, 2001) In the case of instrumental aggression, an athlete may intend to injure the opponent, but the most important goal to be achieved by the aggressive act is to win the competition, to be acknowledged by the coach etc. A sporting example would be a hard check by the enforcer in ice hockey. The action is within the rules and the player isn’t solely intending to injure the player, their actual motivation is to put them out of the game so their team has the best chance of winning.
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A check in has intent to harm but the motivation behind this is not solely to cause harm but to gain an advantage. |
Often acts in sport are coined as aggressive but in fact the player is actually displayingAssertive behaviour.
This Assertive behaviour is defined as behaviour that involves the use of legitimate physical or verbal force to achieve ones purpose” (Silva, 1980) e.g. sledging in cricket to cause psychological discomfort for the batsman. For an act to be assertive it must be goal directed with no specific intention to harm with the use of legitimate force with no rules broken (Silva, 1980, Woods, 2001, Husman & Silva 1984, Silva 1979). Thirer, (1994) also states the distinction is that the intent, when one is being assertive, is to establish dominance rather than to harm the opponent. Any physical injuries that may occur via assertive behaviour is accidental and an unintentional by-product
Wiggins-James et al (2006) states it is important to realise that acts of aggression may be interpreted differently depending on the nature of the sport. For example a player punching another in Tennis is unacceptable but in boxing it is a vital component of the sport. In terms of aggression necessity in sport Smith, (1983) suggested the perceived legitimacy of aggression in sport has been defined as the extent to which aggression and violence in sport are perceived to be necessary, good, or justified.
The term aggression is commonly used in modern sports as Husman and Silva (1984), noted, such behaviour requires unusual energy and effort, which in most other social settings would appear to be aggressive behaviour. Aggression is also misused in sports commentary as it is in the wrong context because the performer may actually be showing forceful behaviour rather than aggression (Wiggins-James, 2006).
Coaches also misuse the term as it has been noted that coaches frequently use the term aggression and encourage aggressive behaviour by their athletes without meaning behaviour that intends to harm (Connelly, 1988) what they actually mean is to be assertive. Lange and Jakubowski (1976) have also highlighted this lack of differentiation as their study indicated that some people mistake assertiveness for rudeness or even aggression.
When dealing with aggressive and assertive behaviour there is always an area of ambiguity see fig 1, Connelly (1988) notes that is always the possibility that an athlete may exhibit legal behaviour with an underlying intent to cause injury.
The causes of aggression
The Causes of Aggression
To fully understand aggression it would be beneficial to look at what actually causes it in the first place. Below is a list of factors that cause aggression,
- Nature of the sport – Is the sport Contact or Non contact? Contact sports have a higher chance.
- Rivalry - This can be either between teams or certain players.
- The Event – What is its importance? Are there any expectations?
- Score – The larger the differential the increased chance of aggression.
- Extrinsic Rewards – e.g. Do they get monetary/win bonus? For a good example see the New Orleans Saints Bounty Video.
- Venue – Is it at home or away? Teams are more aggressive when playing away.
- Poor Officials – A bad call can spark aggression.
- Copying others – See Social Learning Theory.
- Frustration – See Frustration Aggression Theory.
- Verbal persuasion - has been identified as an instigator of aggressive actions (Bandura, 1979).
- High arousal levels
These are just a few of the athlete and coach specific causes, the list could also include spectator factors.
Instinct and Frustration-aggression Theories
Theories of Aggression
There are 3 main theories regarding aggression in sport these are Instinct Theory, Frustration-aggression Theory and Social Learning Theory (SLT).
Instinct Theory
This was the first theory for aggression in sport and was defined by Freud, and Lorenz (1966). This theory is based on a nature approach; it argues that aggressive behaviour is innate, genetically inherited and as a result inevitable. It suggests aggression is due to our evolutionary development, our life instinct and our death instinct. Aggression is a trait of our self destructive death instinct and this clashes with our life instincts until it is balanced.
The theory suggests aggression is built up and needs to be released to maintain our well being. This aggression can be directed towards another person or displaced and it argues that sport allows this release through a Catharsis. Rather than releasing our aggression in an inappropriate place we may wait until a more appropriate time to release it, and we use displacement when we want to do something that we know is not acceptable, If your boss at work makes you angry you may want to hurt them but you resist so the sporting environment provides the perfect opportunity to release this aggression. We re-direct this emotional response from a dangerous target to a safe one (Woods, 2001).
However the theory has Criticisms:
- Levels of aggression actually tend to increase in sport not decrease as Freud suggests (Berkowitz,1972).
- No innate aggressive characteristics have ever actually been found and there has never been any support found for Catharsis.
- Aggressive sports players often don’t show the same aggressive characteristics in society away from their sport.
- Aggressive behaviour is often learnt and is linked to culture not just innate.
Frustration-Aggression Theory
Dollard et al (1939) suggested an interactionist approach toward aggression, they argued that aggression is partly due to innate characteristics as Freud (1950) suggests but it is also partly learnt from others. A performer becomes aggressive when the goal is blocked and this leads to frustration in the performer and eventually aggression. They state that frustration will always lead to aggression and aggression is always caused by frustration.
An example could be a performer’s aggression drive increases due the opponent playing well. As a result frustration in the performer increases so they commit an aggressive act e.g. a personal foul in basketball, the player is then satisfied as there has been a cathartic release, however if the performer is punished for the act then further aggressive acts may follow.
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The Frustration-aggression Theory |
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