Abstract
On-field aggressive behaviour is often seen on sports fields and numerous theories tried to identify its origins. This study tackled the question of whether the youth athletes in contact and non-contact sports could be differentiated on the basis of the hostile and competitive aggression, and some other characteristics that showed to be related to the aggressive on field behaviour. The study sample comprised 154 of (51% girls) young athletes aged between 10 and 15 years from various contact and non-contact disciplines (wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, football, swimming, athletics, and dance). Participants completed several questionnaires regarding their aggressive behaviour, motivation, anxiety, self-esteem and emotional regulation. Only the competitive, but not hostile, aggression was more present among the youth athletes in contact sports. From all other characteristics, self-esteem, although in a lower extent, predicted affiliation of the non-contact sports group.
Highlights
The benefit of sport activities on a child's physical and mental health is well known
Given inconsistent empirical evidence on aggressiveness as a distinctive characteristic of youth contact and noncontact athletes, as well as other relevant characteristics that may interplay in sports contexts, the purpose of our study was to investigate which psychological characteristics differentiate youth athletes of those two types of sports
According to the catharsis theory, contact sport-specific tasks may serve as catharsis environment for youth athletes which decreases their general aggressiveness
Summary
The benefit of sport activities on a child's physical and mental health is well known. An interesting and theoretically relevant question is whether some psychological characteristics of young athletes involved in contact and non-contact sports differ. Posed hypothesis on possibly higher aggressiveness of youth athletes involved in contact sports in comparison to their non-contact sports peers has received significant attention from the scientific and professional community. While being provoked by an insult given by the second experimenter which was heard over the open intercom, non-contact sport athletes behaved significantly less aggressively than contact sports athletes. The authors discussed those results as the challenge for learning theories, such as social learning theory (Bandura, 1973), emphasizing that aggressiveness in contact-sport athletes failed to exceed in other conditions. The results questioned the selection hypothesis and the view of contact sports as an outlet for strained hostilities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
