Moral attitudes towards doping – what do athletes on the verge of maturity value?

Abstract

The aim of the present study was twofold: a) to verify the previously detected regularities in a group of subjects larger than the one employed in a pilot study, and b) to define the internal structure of the hierarchy of values that can be squandered as a result of doping. For the study, eighty-nine 16-18-year-old students from the fencing, athletics, martial arts, and football classes of the School of Championship in Sports were recruited. Experimental technique developed by Mroczkowska called Perception of the risk of was employed to individually rank the highly regarded values (e.g., health, medals won, physical appeal, mental balance, financial bonuses, and social respect) that can be lost as a consequence of the use of illegal stimulants. It appears that young athletes would declaratively resign themselves from the loss of a financial bonus rather than from the loss of the social respect and attributes of self-integrity, such as physical and mental health. The detected correlations suggest that the rewarding value of a medal has an internal dimension: it externalizes a sense of self-confidence and confirms high self-esteem. The results indicate that, as perceived by the young, winning a medal with the help of doping is an illusion that does not allow to verify one's own skills and limitations. (Biol.Sport 26:235-243, 2009)