Search

There are growing levels of abuse toward match officials in sport as well as general problems of their recruitment and retention. Purpose: This study analyzes the role that physical and nonphysical abuse has on association football referees' intentions to quit and their personal well-being. Methods: Drawing on pooled survey data of association football referees from the UK and Canada, this paper employs probit, ordinary least squares, and treatment effects regression analyses to explore the casual relationship between the physical and nonphysical abuse faced by referees, their intention to quit and their well-being. Results: Although physical abuse is less common than nonphysical abuse both affect the intention to quit and well-being of officials. Moreover, those that do not contemplate quitting also face reductions in their well-being. Conclusion: The research recommends a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of abuse of officials in sport and identifies that organizations have a duty of care for the well-being of their officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on European Sport Economics Association (ESEA) establishing the Peter Sloane Award (PSA) in 2019. Topics include analytical approach in which football teams maximize playing success subject to minimum losses has had continued support in the literature; and evaluating the proposals to provide a recommendation as to who should receive the award.

Momentary feelings of pleasure and purpose can be sources of intrinsic motivation, but momentary purpose is rarely studied. Activities, contexts, and feelings of retired/semiretired adults (n = 67, aged 50–78 years) were captured using ecological momentary assessment. Participants provided 2,065 valid responses to six daily smartphone surveys for 7 days. Physical activity was measured by waist-worn ActiGraph accelerometer. Pleasure (measured by affective happiness) and purpose outcomes were regressed on activities, context, and potential confounding variables. Interactions between activities and contexts were explored. Participants were highly active: 98.5% met physical activity guidelines. Sedentary activities were negatively associated with sense of purpose, especially when indoors. However, social sedentary activities were positively associated with feelings of happiness. Active, social outdoor activities were positively associated with both outcomes. Less sedentary participants experienced greater happiness and purpose during all their activities. Context matters: active, social, and outdoor activities seem to be more appealing to older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the causal effect of different voluntary roles in sport on individuals' subjective well-being. Theoretically, volunteering can affect well-being through various mechanisms, including enjoyment, new contacts, skill development, exercising altruism, and relational goods. The empirical analysis uses data from 28 European countries (n = 52,957). Subjective well-being is measured with self-reported life satisfaction. The number of administrative roles (e.g., board or committee member, administrative tasks), sport-related roles (e.g., coach, instructor, referee), and operational roles (e.g., organize a sport event, provide transport) capture volunteering. The results of linear regression models support the positive relationship between volunteering and subjective well-being as evident in existing research. However, instrumental variable estimates reveal that only the number of operational roles has a significant positive effect on well-being, whereas the effects of administrative and sport-related roles are jointly significantly negative. The findings of this study have implications for sport organizations and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the economic impact (measured by visitor spending) and environmental impact (measured by carbon footprint) of leisure trips to the natural environment. It also investigates the tradeoff between them. This research uses survey data from England comprising information about randomly selected leisure trips to the natural environment (n = 15,535; 2012-2016). On average, each trip involves visitor spending of GBP 8.57 and a carbon footprint of 4.15 kg of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions. The results of seemingly unrelated regression analysis and bivariate probit analysis show that trips involving eating, water activities, visiting attractions and the beach yield more expenditure, but also a higher carbon footprint. On the contrary, trips involving walking, land activities, and playing with children generate a lower carbon footprint, but also less visitor spending. These results and the significant correlation of residuals suggests that economic impact occurs at the expense of the natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]