Types and causes of aggressive behaviour in sport
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Types and causes of aggressive behaviour
Aggression- is the intent to harm, outside the rules of the game and is often prompted by reactive behaviour that is out of control. In an sports article, Aggression is defined as “any form of behaviour directed toward the goal of harming of injuring another live being who is motivated to avoid such treatment” (Baron & Richardson, 1994) 1 It is generally seen as something that is negative and associated with anger.
Gills criteria for aggressive behavior: “Aggression is behavior with a goal of harming of injuring another being motivated to avoid such treatment. There are three types of aggressive behavior, hostile and instrumental aggression, plus assertion. We have Gills criteria for aggression, plus the causes of aggression; instinct theory, frustration-aggression theory and social learning theory.
Assertion- Many sports psychologists see aggression as assertion. Assertion can be defined as being within the rules of the game and is well-motivated behaviour this is more in control, and there is no intention to harm the opponent. In sport the distinction between aggression and assertion can be seen according to Silva 1983 as either : hostile aggression, the intent being to cause harm and instrumental aggression (assertion) such as a hard yet fair tackle during a game of rugby. The goal in the latter is to get the ball back not intention to cause harm to the other player.2
Most people view aggression as a negative psychological characteristic, however some sport psychologists agree that aggression can improve performance (Widmeyer & Birch, 1984). This is called an assertive behaviour (Bredemeier, 1994), where a player will play within the rules of the sport at a very high intensity, but will have no intention to harm an opponent.
Assertive: behaviour links to three main criteria:
Is goal directed
Not intended to harm or injure
Does not break any rules of the game
Examples:
Goal Directed:
An example to demonstrate this type of behaviour is a goalkeeper in soccer. There are moments in the game when the goalkeeper comes off of their line to collect the ball, this is purely goal directed as the goalie has no intention to harm or injure the striker. When the goalie is collecting the ball, they may collide with the player or unintentionally hurt them if their leg is up. However, goalkeepers do not mean to, their goal is to get the football away from my goal; they more often then not do not want to hurt the striker in the process.
Hostile Aggression
- is a specific intent to harm another person. Sometimes the aggression shown in sport can be very hostile, e.g. when a reaction to a foul is designed to inflict injury on another player.
Hostile Aggressive behaviour is all about the intention, not the outcome. Hostile aggression is “inflicting harm whether it is physical or psychological, on someone else. It is sometimes referred to as reactive aggression and can be accompanied by anger” a good example of this type of aggression is Roy Keane. “Keane admitted in his book that he set out to injure Haaland that day. This shows that he set out to harm the player. This suggests hostile aggression as it was a reaction to their feud that had been going on for a while and Keane reacted and intended harm.
Instrumental Aggression-
Is less personal and lacks the intent to injure someone else but it is aimed at breaking the rules or abusing the equipment, e.g. a tennis player shouting at an umpire to dispute a line call.
For example John McEnroe in 1981 at Wimbeldon screamed at the umpire ‘you cannot be serious’ and slammed his racquet to the ground.3
Assertion aggression. “This is displaying aggressive behavior in the pursuit of a non-aggressive goal, sometimes referred to as channeled aggression This type of aggression comes about mostly in contact sports.
An example of this is Ryan Shawcross’s tackle on Aaron Ramsey. When you watch the video of the tackle back, Shawcross is 100% going for the ball. He isn’t aiming to harm or injure Ramsey, as you watch Shawcross leave the pith, he is wiping away tears in his eyes and looks distraught at the fact that he has done this to another player. The players aren’t holding grudges and they both shake hands when playing against each other the next time. The tackle wasn’t a personal attack by Shawcross; it was just two plays on separate teams ...
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An example of this is Ryan Shawcross’s tackle on Aaron Ramsey. When you watch the video of the tackle back, Shawcross is 100% going for the ball. He isn’t aiming to harm or injure Ramsey, as you watch Shawcross leave the pith, he is wiping away tears in his eyes and looks distraught at the fact that he has done this to another player. The players aren’t holding grudges and they both shake hands when playing against each other the next time. The tackle wasn’t a personal attack by Shawcross; it was just two plays on separate teams going for the ball, and one coming out with a leg broken in two places.
Why aggression happens in sport?
There are a number of explanations as to why aggression happens in sport and the reasons behind it. There is evidence from psychological studies to show that there is a physiological and cognitive relationship that will determine someones reaction and sport seems to heighten this response.
Instinct Theory-
This is an evolutionary theory in that it states that we are all born with an aggressive instinct that will surface under provocation or threat. Thus aggression is innate and is necessary as a life or death response to a threat. The aggressive instinct can be shown on the pitch when defending a goal or reacting to a foul. In football for example the player might lash out at a player who has fouled them
Frustration- aggression theory-
Aggression can be caused in sport by the frustration of being prevented from achieving what we want to achieve. It has more of an interactionist approach in that it is to some extent innate but also learnt from others.4 It claims ‘that frustration will always lead to aggression and aggression is always caused by frustration.’5 An example could be a performer’s aggression drive increases due the opponent playing well, and stopping him achieving his goal. As a result, frustration in the performer increases so they commit an aggressive act e.g. a personal foul in basketball an example of this could be Kelly Olynyk foul on Kevin love. the player is then satisfied as there has been an aggressive release, however if the performer is not punished for the act then further aggressive acts may follow.
Arousal
Arousal is a key issue in sport psychology. Arousal is a ‘physiological state that prepares the body for action, the fight or flight response’6 Specifically, physical and technical performance depends on the level of performer’s arousal. In an ideal case hormones and parts of the brain are activated and prepare the body to be alert and ready, this should be beneficial for sports. However, if the level of arousal is too much or cognitively labelled as anxiety it could impair performance and results. Thus emotion and how we perceive the arousal is vital in determining performance. Arousal reflects general physical and mental activity. The interaction between physiological and cognitive processes are under this theory inextricably linked.
Anxiety has two main types:
State anxiety is transient and specific only to the particular situation an athlete finds themselfs in.
Trait anxiety is more general and enduring, suggesting a predisposition to anxiety in all areas of life, not just in sport.
Symptoms
Symptoms of anxiety are varied and individual to each athlete, but they can generally be recognized on three levels: Cognitive symptoms relate to thought processes, including fear, indecision, poor concentration, loss of confidence. physical symptoms include muscular tension, clammy hands and feet, increased heart rate, sweating. Behavioral symptoms relate to patterns of behavior, including inhibited posture, fingernail biting, avoidance of eye contact and uncharacteristic displays of introverted or extroverted behavior.
Causes
Competitive stress becomes negative, potentially leading to symptoms of anxiety, when an athlete perceives what is being asked of him to be beyond his capabilities. Anxiety is often linked to a fear of failure, and an athlete’s perception of his abilities may be based on a previous performance, his beliefs regarding the opposition or the perceived importance of the competition. His perception can also vary greatly from event to event, depending on his perceived state of physical and mental preparation in each case.
Effects
An athlete suffering symptoms of anxiety will inevitably underachieve. The physical and psychological effects experienced will have a negative impact on performance, and continued exposure can lead to burnout, often prompted by growing feelings of dissatisfaction, which can develop into a decision to leave sport completely.
In sport setting, arousal is often linked to anxiety. Anxiety is percieved as a negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness this is linked with the arousal and the nervous system. In general, arousal has two kinds of effects on performance. First, it increases muscle tension and affects co-ordination. Too much tension is negative on performance. Second, arousal affects attention. Therefore, attention can become either too narrow with too much arousal, or too broad with too little arousal which makes person to pay too much attention to their environment. There are several theories as to how arousal affects performance:
The Drive Theory :
Drive theory states a linear positive corollation between arousal and performance. This means that at low levels of arousal, performance is low whereas it increases in line with an increase in arousal. Drive theory became popular during the 1950s as a way to explain behavior and motivation
The drive theory of arousal is the link between performance levels and arousal levels. This means that an increased/decreased arousal is exactly proportional to the increase/decrease in the level of the athletes overall performance. So bascailly Drive theory states how good you are e.g. beginner or expert is triggered by your level of arousal. Christiano Ronaldo is a professional footballer. According to the drive theory the more aroused Ronaldo become the better he will play Ronaldo's performances is known as his dominant response, which is how he usually plays, normally at a high standard, Ronaldo will become more aroused throughout the game as the pressure increases as the team and crowd want to win . The idea is that arousal is linked to the dominant response which becomes activated. The dominant response is activated basically because it is the most learnt and for athletes it will be a response they have been prepared or trained for.
According to the drive theory as the pressure increases Ronaldo's ability to perform will keep increasing and have no limit. The drive theory of arousal is the link between performance levels and arousal levels. This means that an increased/decreased arousal is exactly proportional to the increase/decrease in the level of the athletes overall performance. Dominant response is dependent on how good you are. When you are not prepared or not practised enough according to drive theory the wrong response can occur.
For instance when taking a penalty in football is being taken the penalty taker will look at the goal keeper and their increase in drive will result in them either to execute the ball well – if they are practicised enough for this to be the dominant response or fail to score if not experiened.
However the drive theory has been questioned amongst sports psychologists more recently as it has been argued that even the most practiced athletes performance can be affected by high anxiety. An example of this could be Sergio Garcia who has been in the top ten in golfs' majors 23 times. But only won his first major tournmant this April.
The inverted U theory
The inverted u theoryis a theory created by Robert Yerkes and john Dodson in 1908. The idea behind the theory is that when an athlete reaches their optimum performance they are also at moderate arousal levels, if the arousal of the athlete is too high they can become stressed and unhappy while performing but if the arousal is too low they can become bored and experience low pressure giving them the feeling they don’t need to achieve.
An example of this is when Lebron James scored 45 point against the Boston Celtics and had a 75% shooting percentage from the floor which shows the optimum performance using moderate arousal to increase his performance. When an athlete is too aroused they can begin to decrease in performance an example of this is when Steph Curry was in the 2016 NBA finals he attempted to score 124 shots and only scored 50 due to the stress and pressure put onto him due to wining the MVP for the second time in a row which caused the warriors to lose the series 4-3 to the opponent after being ahead 3-1.
Depending on the sport the arousal doesn’t affect the performance level in the same way the theory says as the theory states that you need to have moderate arousal to perform well but for example in golf when putting the athlete need to have a low arousal level to perform well because they need to be calm to focus more on the shot. In sports like rugby and American football the arousal levels need to be high to allow the player to tackle and take down their opponents to increase performance levels.
The key difference between the inverted u theory and drive theory is that the inverted u theory allows that moderate levels of arousal result in good performance, whereas drive theory doesn’t do this. It has been found that sports which need precision and fine motor skills like bowls and shooting are performed better with low levels of arousal and sports which demand more physical activity like tackling or kicking might be performed better with higher levels of arousal.7
However a study by Raglin and Turner (1993)8 questions the inverted U theory by claming that each athlete has their own zone of optimal functioning ZOF. They argue that the inverted U theory does not take into account individual differences, the study also found that for most athletes the ZOF was demonstrated at the extreme ends of the anxiety scale which clearly questions the inverted U theory. Under the inverted U theory performance should have dropped after the optimal level of arousal.
Catastrophe Model:
Fazer & Hardy, (1988) introduced a model which attempts to demonstrate a link between arousal and cognitive anxiety. They suggest that as long as there are lower thoughts of anxiety, then performance will be best at a medium level of physical arousal. If there is a high level of anxious thoughts (worry), performance will be better at a medium level of physical arousal but will suddenly drop off and become very poor. There is a breaking point when performance decreases dramatically.
Rob Green mistake vs. USA 2010 World Cup.
This is an example of the Catastrophe theory because Rob Green has a catastrophic moment when he makes a mistake leading to a goal but could not recover in order to save his performance after that goal went in. He was terrible for the rest of the game and this then affected his career and he was never able to recover . However, the other side of the spectrum Catastrophe theory states that some can rebound mid way through a sporting event and save their performance after a nightmare moment e.g. Floyd Mayweather was being beaten by Shane Mossley, he was hit with a hard punch and near KO’ed but Mayweather recovered and came back to win every round after it and win the fight. This is an example of a Catastrophe theory because Mayweather had a catastrophic moment when he got caught with a great punch and nearly go's down. However, he lowers his anxiety level and his performance recovers and he goes on to have a great performance and win the fight.
Though it seems that physiological and cognitive aspects of anxiety are involved in a an athletes failure to perform at their best, it seems that it is difficult to determine exactly why this happens.. One argument is that perhaps cognitive anxiety combined with self confidence can affect performance. Yet it is difficult to determine what causes what; increasing anxiety or a lack of confidence. The cause can be viewed as bidirectional, but this doesn’t help to determine a main contributing factor.
Stress
There are two types of stress: Eustress and Distress.
`A pattern of negative physiological states and psychological responses occurring in situations where people perceive threats to their well-being, which they may be unable to meet.`
The athlete will experience psychological symptoms. These include:
* Indecisiveness
* Decreased concentration
* Worry
* Decreased attention span
The athlete will also experience physiological symptoms these will include:
* Sweating
* Raised heart rate
* Slowed digestion
Sympathetic nervous system responses accelerated heart rate, widen nasal passages, constrict blood vessels, cause pupil dilation, goose bumps sweating, and raise blood pressure.
Parasympathetic response includes: The opposite to the Sympathetic response
* Decreased heart rate
* Accelerated digestion
* Lowered heart rate
* Decreased blood pressure
Eustress
This is the good form of stress that is used to enhance performance.
Some athletes seek out stressful situations as it may help them increase there skill level and focus their attention more on their chosen sport.
For example: Andy Murray felt the pressure and stress to win Wimbledon 2013, as he will end Britain's 77-year wait for a men`s champion. He felt the stress because all his fans in Britain were supporting him to win and he also wanted to win himself which gave him even more motivation to win. He felt the stress to win as he was playing the world number one, which meant his skill level improved rapidly and he kept his focus to win, which resulted in Andy Murray winning his first ever Wimbledon title.
Distress
This is our `bad` stress. This is when a situation gets the best of us, and can lead to `choking`. This is normally what we mean when we discuss stress.
Many athletes suffer with this type of stress. It is an extreme form of anxiety, nervousness, apprehension, or worry. When athletes get this type of stress they may struggle to meet their demands in their chosen sport.
For example: David Nalbandian was disqualified because he couldn`t cope with his stress levels.When Nalbandian was playing in the Aegon Championships 2012 he lost control of his stress and it turned into anger. This resulted in him kicking the box the line judge was sat in and injuring the line judge. This happened because Nalbandian won the first set winning the tie break at 7-3. This would put some stress on the tennis player, unfortunately the stress caused his skill level to decrease. Then in the second set his opponent broke his serve. Nalbandian didn't play his best double faulting at points. When he missed a hard return he lost that game. This stress caused him to get angry uncontrollably.
Alan Law , Christos Halkiopoulos , Christian Bryan; Psychology for the IB Diploma; 2010, Pearson
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