In force Publication date 01 Nov 14
A cross-national longitudinal investigation of the contribution of efficacy belief systems and interpersonnal appraisals on doping use in team sports
Project description
Summary
The study examines the patterns of doping use in team sports and establishes a link between the views on doping and team characteristics and experiences. It proposes that the athletes are convinced of the ability of their teams not to give in to the pressure to dope and that they do not justify doping, even in circumstances that are likely to lead to the success of their teams. Research was conducted in Italy, Germany, and Greece.
Methodology
The study follows a three-stage cross-sectional research design. In the first stage, the researchers formed three focus groups comprising a total of twenty-one (21) sports professionals to advise with creating questionnaires. In the second stage, the investigators developed team questionnaires to measure the most significant social and cognitive variables and administered them to a sample of four hundred and fourteen (414) young team athletes to test the measurement characteristics. Then, the researchers administered a survey to a sample of seven hundred forty-nine (749) young team athletes to see the relationship between personal beliefs regarding doping, interpersonal appraisals, and attitudes and intentions related to doping.
Results
Given that the study discusses team sports, it makes it possible to extend existing research into doping conducted on an individual level to specific contexts within team sports. The study could also allow for the generalization of research into psychological effects and the overall model of psychological effects conducted on a national level onto a transnational European context (i.e., Italy, Germany, and Greece).
Significance for Clean Sport
The team questionnaire that the researchers developed for the purposes of the study has been found to have good measurement properties. Based on its results, a link was established between the athletes’ appraisals, thoughts, and views on doping and team characteristics and experiences. Every surveyed athlete felt quite confident in their personal or their teams’ capability to withstand the pressure to dope, and, overall, the participants showed little interest in rationalizing doping, even in the circumstances that could have been favorable to their teams.