The role of personal commitment to integrity in clean sport and anti-doping

Abstract

BackgroundDespite widespread reference to protecting ‘clean sport’ and the rights of ‘clean athletes’ in anti-doping, to date very little attention has been paid to athletes who are, in majority, committed to clean sport. Understanding elite athletes’ conceptions of ‘clean sport’ and integrity, the psychosocial factors related specifically to athletes’ commitment to personal integrity and clean sport behaviour (as opposed to factors influencing anti-doping rule-breaking) provides a crucial, but currently missing, piece for anti-doping education. MethodsDrawing upon two complimentary theories (the Incremental Model of Doping Behaviour, and Personal Integrity) for coding frame, we employed a qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) approach to re-analyse in-depth life-story interviews of 14 elite athletes (9 males/5 females) from Germany, Italy, and the UK, representing 11 sports across high (n = 8), medium (n = 3) and low risk (n = 3) categories for doping. Interview data were originally collected for the SAFE YOU+ project to underpin illustrative case studies produced as educational material. QSA was conducted on this evidence within the constructivist research paradigm using thematic analysis through adductive reasoning. ResultsElite athletes' conceptions of clean sport and commitment to personal integrity presented on a continuum from a strict position to use no substances at all through to the carefully calibrated use of non-prohibited substances/methods for the purpose of enhancing performance. There was a clear distinction between commitment to clean sport and anti-doping. Factors that threaten elite athletes’ personal commitment to clean sport, and thus could push them towards doping included intrinsic concerns (medical, financial, performance), perceptions of legitimacy in the anti-doping system, descriptive doping norms and identity. Factors that may help athletes build and maintain personal commitment to clean sport, and their personal commitment to a clean sport environment, involved acceptance, anti-doping environment, motivation, permitted means to enhance performance and multi-dimensional identity. Doping was seen as the consequence of lapse in, or a lack of, personal commitment to clean sport. ConclusionFor the first time, empirical evidence has differentiated between commitment to clean sport, and anti-doping. Results from this investigation highlighted that the process by which abstract values are operationalized into personal value-systems and priorities, and enacted, are complex and fluid. Values-based, anti-doping education therefore should adopt a holistic and broad approach to reach beyond the values of sport within the context of anti-doping and consider the complex role of personal integrity and commitment to clean sport. Emphasis on the impact of anti-doping rule breaking on peers, society and culture is recommended in addition to greater awareness of one's responsibility for performance-enhancement related actions, and a clean sport mindset among athletes which extends beyond the sporting environment.