Youth's perceptions of rule-breaking and antisocial behaviours: Gender, developmental level, and competitive level differences

Abstract

The present study was designed to assess young athlete's perceived frequency of observing antisocial behaviour in sport, perceived frequency of rule-breaking in sport, and the perceived rationale for why youth are engaging in rule-breaking in sport. The sample consisted of 2479 youth drawn from across the USA. A majority of youth reported observing some type of rule-breaking in sport. The most common perceived rationales for rule-breaking involved aspects surrounding the pursuit of winning. Even though rule-breaking had been observed by a majority of youth in sport, antisocial behaviours were typically perceived to occur infrequently. Gender, developmental level, and competitive level differences were observed. However, in general, there were a small number of group differences, and participants typically viewed these issues more similarly than differently. Overall, youth are perceiving a positive sport environment in which they play.