Nicolas Souchon

Referees’ decision-making and player gender: the moderating role of the type of situation

The influence of player gender on referees’ decision-making was examined in 30 handball matches played at the highest regional level. The results indicated that referees make more lenient decisions toward male players when administering sporting sanctions, but more severe decisions toward male players when administering disciplinary sanctions, depending on whether or not the players were able to succeed in their action despite the foul. The findings are congruent with the hypothesis that referees use player gender as a judgmental heuristic. We suggest that further experimental studies examining the effects of referee gender and level of expertise, and of level of competition are needed to better understand the extent and limits of referees’ use of player gender as a decision-making heuristic.

Aggression in Soccer: An Exploratory Study of Accounts Preference

Most researchers have defined aggression in sport as overt acts violating the formal rules and intentionally causing harm (Widmeyer, Dorsch, Bray, & McGuire, 2002). Such conduct in team sports may also be conceptualized as a kind of social interaction (Mummendey & Mummendey, 1983), which would suggest aggression is not judged as an isolated act but as a set of actions and reactions between individuals. In many contexts, including sports, individuals who transgress social norms and/or cause harm to another are confronted with negative reactions and asked to account for that violation (Ohbuchi, 1999; Petrucci, 2002; Weiner, 1995). In this sense, the episode may constitute an integral part of the aggressive situation and partially determine the interaction (Ohbuchi, Kameda, & Agarie, 1989). For instance, an athlete who provides an acceptable explanation of a violation might mitigate the negative reactions from others (e.g., opponents or referees), whereas an unsatisfactory response might lead to social reproaches or penalization. Research on accounts episodes in sports should consider the equivocal relationship between sport and aggression. Although the idea that sports build moral values is strong, competitive team sports often are counter to the development of ethics, sportsmanship, or fair play (Bredemeier & Shields, 1986). Empirical research conducted on attitudes of coaches and athletes revealed that aggression is considered as a salient and appropriate dimension in sports. For instance, Stephens (2000) and Stephens and Bredemeier (1996) argued that a team’s pro-aggression norms predicted self-aggressive tendencies, although these are contrary to ideological conventions.There is evidence that team sports athletes display less mature moral reasoning and a tendency to consider aggression as more legitimate than nonathletes (Bredemeier, 1985; Bredemeier & Shields, 1986). Athletes approved aggression under circumstances, such as close games or retaliation (Conroy, Silva, Newcomer, Walker, & Johnson, 2001). Although a growing number of studies have investigated the endorsement or rejection of aggressive behaviors in sport, to date, little is known about how athletes explain their aggressive behaviors. Many athletes accept a certain amount of aggression as part of the game, which raises the question about whether and what account selections players really make. The answer to these questions may increase our understanding of aggressive situations in sport and broaden a complementary knowledge base for account and sport research on aggression. Thus, the central purpose of this study was to explore the athletes’ perception of accounts given for aggression in soccer. Social psychologists have differentiated several account types (Ohbuchi, 1999; Schönbach, 1990). Apology expresses the acceptance of personal responsibility, whereas excuse and justification attempt to minimize this responsibility in terms of (uncontrollable) causes and reasons, respectively. Last, denials fully reject personal responsibility. Verbal explanations use different combinations of acknowledgement of association and harmfulness (Itoi, Ohbuchi, & Fukuno, 1996). Previous studies of accounts selection for interpersonal transgressions (Itoi et al., 1996; Ohbuchi, Suzuki, & Takaku, 2003) found a predominance of apology when the action was accidental, while excuse was favored when the action was intentional (Ohbuchi & Sato, 1994). FelAggression in Soccer: An Exploratory Study of Accounts Preference

External Influences on Referees’ Decisions in Judo: The Effects of Coaches’ Exclamations During Throw Situations

The present research investigated the influence of coaches’ exclamations on referees’ decision-making in judo. Under time pressure, 65 judo referees judged identical throw situations played on video. The coaches’ exclamations during throws were audible in the experimental condition, whereas no sound was present in the control condition. The throw situations varied in ambiguity (low vs. high) and strength (minor sanctions vs. hard sanctions), while coaches’ exclamations interpreted the throws in a manner that was congenial for their own competitor. Results indicated that referees may use an audience response heuristic or a consensus heuristic to help them make decisions.

Aggressor-victim dissent in perceived legitimacy of aggression in soccer: the moderating role of situational background.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the aggressor-victim difference in perceived legitimacy of aggression in soccer as a function of score information (tied, favorable, unfavorable), sporting penalization (no risk, yellow card, red card), and type of aggression (instrumental, hostile). French male soccer players (N = 133) read written scenarios and rated the legitimacy of the described aggressive act depending on a specific perspective (aggressor or victim) and situational information. A significant aggressor-victim difference in perception of instrumental aggression was found in situations where the score was tied or where there was no risk to be caught. In addition, aggressors were affected by such information, whereas victims were not. The discussion focuses on explanations and implications of such divergences in aggressive sport situations.

Aggressor and Victim Perspective-Related Differences in Perceived Legitimacy of Aggression in Soccer

The purpose of this role-playing study was to explore the perceived legitimacy of aggression in soccer as a function of perspective-related differences (aggressor vs victim) and type of aggression (instrumental vs hostile). 120 soccer players watched videotaped aggressive interactions in soccer and took the perspective of the actors (aggressor then victim or the reverse). Then they rated the legitimacy of each aggressive behavior depending on its ultimate goal (instrumental then hostile or the reverse). When participants adopted the aggressor perspective, they perceived instrumental aggression as more legitimate than hostile aggression. In contrast, when participants took the perspective of the victim, no significant difference was found regardless of the type of aggression. The discussion focussed on implications and consequences of such divergences in aggressive sport situations.

Does Spontaneous Favorability to Power (vs. Universalism) Values Predict Spontaneous Prejudice and Discrimination

Abstract Objective We conducted five studies testing whether an implicit measure of favorability toward power over universalism values predicts spontaneous prejudice and discrimination. Method Studies 1 (N = 192) and 2 (N = 86) examined correlations between spontaneous favorability toward power (vs. universalism) values, achievement (vs. benevolence) values, and a spontaneous measure of prejudice toward ethnic minorities. Study 3 (N = 159) tested whether conditioning participants to associate power values with positive adjectives and universalism values with negative adjectives (or inversely) affects spontaneous prejudice. Study 4 (N = 95) tested whether decision bias toward female handball players could be predicted by spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values. Study 5 (N = 123) examined correlations between spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values, spontaneous importance toward power (vs. universalism) values, and spontaneous prejudice toward Black African people. Results Spontaneous positivity toward power (vs. universalism) values was associated with spontaneous negativity toward minorities and predicted gender bias in a decision task, whereas the explicit measures did not. Conclusions These results indicate that the implicit assessment of evaluative responses attached to human values helps to model value‐attitude‐behavior relations.

Influence of competition level on referees’ decision-making in handball

Abstract The influence of competition level on referees’ decision-making was investigated. Referees’ decisions in 90 handball games (30 games X 3 competition levels) were observed in different situations related to the advantage rule, and 100 referees from two different levels of expertise were subsequently asked to offer explanations for the competition-level effects from the first part of the study. Results revealed that at the highest level of competition referees intervened less frequently with sporting sanctions, but more frequently with disciplinary sanctions. These effects were apparent mainly in immediate intervention situations and unsuccessful advantage situations, but not in successful situations. Referees explained these effects of competition level in terms of a player competence stereotype, in addition to referees’ different expertise across competition level. The implications of the findings for understanding how status-related stereotypes impact on intervention behavior are discussed.