What about the clean athletes? The need for positive psychology in anti-doping research

Abstract

The focus on athletes who engage in doping practices eclipses the fact that elite athletes overwhelmingly support wellness, health, and ethical sporting behavior. Yet very little is known about clean athletes and why they choose to stay clean. This article advocates moving beyond “business as usual” enforcement focused anti-doping efforts (i.e., eradicating “the bad” through the policing and detection of violators) towards enhancing efforts to identify the strengths and characteristics of athletes who choose not to engage in doping behavior (i.e., promoting “the good”). We argue that it is more effective to promote and enhance the continuation of existing healthy behavior than trying to only eradicate and extinguish deviant/maladaptive behavior. Moreover, such ends are best achieved through a positive psychology approach to anti-doping. By employing a positive psychology approach that identifies what clean athletes are doing effectively, this article argues that novel and potentially transformative methods can be developed that better prevent doping and assist athletes who desire to be clean.