Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players

Background: The present study tested Lee et al.'s (2008) model of moral attitudes and cheating behavior in sports in an Italian sample of young tennis players and extended it to predict behavior in actual match play. In the first phase of the study we proposed that moral, competence and status...

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Main Authors: Lucidi, F., Zelli, A., Mallia, L., Nicolais, G., Lazuras, L., Hagger, Martin
Format: Journal Article
Published: Frontiers Research Foundation 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53535
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author Lucidi, F.
Zelli, A.
Mallia, L.
Nicolais, G.
Lazuras, L.
Hagger, Martin
author_facet Lucidi, F.
Zelli, A.
Mallia, L.
Nicolais, G.
Lazuras, L.
Hagger, Martin
author_sort Lucidi, F.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: The present study tested Lee et al.'s (2008) model of moral attitudes and cheating behavior in sports in an Italian sample of young tennis players and extended it to predict behavior in actual match play. In the first phase of the study we proposed that moral, competence and status values would predict prosocial and antisocial moral attitudes directly, and indirectly through athletes' goal orientations. In the second phase, we hypothesized that moral attitudes would directly predict actual cheating behavior observed during match play. Method: Adolescent competitive tennis players (N = 314, 76.75% males, M age = 14.36 years, SD = 1.50) completed measures of values, goal orientations, and moral attitudes. A sub-sample (n = 90) was observed in 45 competitive tennis matches by trained observers who recorded their cheating and gamesmanship behaviors on a validated checklist. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, athletes' values predicted their moral attitudes through the effects of goal orientations. Anti-social attitudes directly predicted cheating behavior in actual match play providing support for a direct link between moral attitude and actual behavior. Conclusion: The present study findings support key propositions of Lee and colleagues' model, and extended its application to competitive athletes in actual match play.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-535352017-11-22T01:56:20Z Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players Lucidi, F. Zelli, A. Mallia, L. Nicolais, G. Lazuras, L. Hagger, Martin Background: The present study tested Lee et al.'s (2008) model of moral attitudes and cheating behavior in sports in an Italian sample of young tennis players and extended it to predict behavior in actual match play. In the first phase of the study we proposed that moral, competence and status values would predict prosocial and antisocial moral attitudes directly, and indirectly through athletes' goal orientations. In the second phase, we hypothesized that moral attitudes would directly predict actual cheating behavior observed during match play. Method: Adolescent competitive tennis players (N = 314, 76.75% males, M age = 14.36 years, SD = 1.50) completed measures of values, goal orientations, and moral attitudes. A sub-sample (n = 90) was observed in 45 competitive tennis matches by trained observers who recorded their cheating and gamesmanship behaviors on a validated checklist. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, athletes' values predicted their moral attitudes through the effects of goal orientations. Anti-social attitudes directly predicted cheating behavior in actual match play providing support for a direct link between moral attitude and actual behavior. Conclusion: The present study findings support key propositions of Lee and colleagues' model, and extended its application to competitive athletes in actual match play. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53535 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00571 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers Research Foundation fulltext
spellingShingle Lucidi, F.
Zelli, A.
Mallia, L.
Nicolais, G.
Lazuras, L.
Hagger, Martin
Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
title Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
title_full Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
title_fullStr Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
title_full_unstemmed Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
title_short Moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
title_sort moral attitudes predict cheating and gamesmanship behaviors among competitive tennis players
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53535