Ψυχοκοινωνικές πτυχές της ηθικότητας στον αθλητισμό

Abstract

In sports, but also in society, a continuous difference of opinions about the decisions of others can be observed. According to the literature, a significant role in the making of moral decisions is played by moral reasoning, but also by the motives that are active in an individual on each occasion. The main purpose of the present study was to observe whether moral reasoning and motivation affect the making of moral decisions. At the same time, particular objectives were to inspect the relationship of moral reasoning to age, education, and the social experiences of a sample population, as well as potential differentiations of moral choices in relation to an individual's moral maturity, age, and education level, and to estimate the perceptions of coaches and refereeing observers concerning the moral orientation of players and referees respectively. The sample consisted of 423 persons, (n=342 males and n=81 females). Their age ranged from 14 to 52 years, while all levels of education were represented among the participants. In terms of their form of participation, 147 were referees, 235 were athletes, and 50 were coaches, while in terms of sports 148 of them were involved in football, 141 in handball, and 143 in basketball. The referees and players each filled out three questionnaires, one about the estimation of moral judgment the “Defining Issues Test” (Rest, 1979), one about goal orientation “Task and Ego Orientation in Sport” (Duda, 1989), and one about the choice of moral decisions in sports, while the coaches, instead of the goal orientation questionnaire, filled out the questionnaire about their perception of the moral judgment of their players. Finally, the refereeing observers filled out a questionnaire comparable to that of the coaches about their perception of the moral judgment o f referees. T h e study based i t s e l f o n the cognitive-developmental theory of Kohlberg (1969, 1976), but also on goal achievement theory (Nicholls 1984a, 1984b, 1989). The results partially confirmed the initial hypotheses. In particular, they showed that in sports, individuals make choices in a different way, guided by different motives for the making o f a decision. Out o f the developmental variables, namely age, education, and social experiences, age by itself was found not to affect individuals' moral judgment. In contrast, all three of these variables were found to affect decision-making processes. The different form of participation in sports appeared to affect individuals' choices for the resolution of problems that result during a game to a significant extent, while it did not seems to affect the development of individuals' moral judgment. Furthermore, moral maturity and goal orientation were found to exert significant influence on the making of moral decisions. Finally, it was observed that the orientation of players' and referees' moral judgment could be predicted by the coaches and refereeing observers respectively. The image of morality in sports that the results of the present study showed originated from specific sports and not from the sum of them, and from a part of the people who participate in sports. For this reason, it is proposed that future studies also include other sports and individuals with different forms of participation in sports, for a more complete picture of morality in sports.