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Soccer referees’ experience of threat and aggression: Effects of age, experience, and life orientation on outcome of coping strategy
Author(s) -
Folkesson Per,
Nyberg Claes,
Archer Trevor,
Norlander Torsten
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.90028
Subject(s) - aggression , psychology , worry , coping (psychology) , developmental psychology , social psychology , poison control , injury prevention , orientation (vector space) , human factors and ergonomics , clinical psychology , anxiety , medical emergency , psychiatry , medicine , geometry , mathematics
The present study examined the circumstances pertaining to threat and aggression during soccer matches as experienced by 107 provincial Soccer Association referees. Three sources of aggression were identified—soccer players, coaches/trainers, and spectators—and the main measures included threat and physical and verbal aggression. Several outcomes, including prematch worry and effects on concentration, performance, and motivation, were affected by the incidence of threat and aggression, and these outcomes were found to be affected by the age, degree of experience, and life orientation of the referees. Younger referees were shown to be the most prone to threat and aggression. Referees with a generally pessimistic orientation experienced less motivation, worse performance, and greater problems coping with aggressive behavior from the spectators compared with referees with a generally optimistic orientation. Aggr. Behav. 28:317–327, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.