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The present field experiment investigated the effects of accurate and non-accurate performance feedback on causal attributions, success expectancy, performance, and persistence on a motor task. Forty-six male middle-schoolers were randomly assigned to a Contingent (accurate) feedback, Non-contingent (non-accurate) feedback, or Control (no feedback) group and completed a challenging motor task. An initial treatment phase provided either accurate contingent feedback or yoked non-contingent feedback during the task, and measured task performance, attributions about performance, and success expectancy about future performance. A subsequent testing phase (same task) used the same measures and added a measure of motivation (persistence). Compared to the Contingent and Control groups, Noncontingent outcome feedback during the initial treatment phase led to more personally uncontrollable attributions, lower success expectancy, poorer performance, and lower persistence in the subsequent test phase. Despite a high rate of failure in the motor task for both feedback groups in the treatment phase, the Contingent group--getting accurate feedback about performance--had a higher sense of personal control and expectancy of success than the Non-contingent feedback group initially, and maintained these perceptions in the subsequent test phase where they also had better performance and higher levels of persistence than the Non-contingent group. Non-contingent feedback in an initial motor task appears to induce helplessness deficits in subsequent task performance and persistence. In contrast, providing accurate (contingent) feedback about achieved performance appears to protect against performance and motivational losses.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between values and physical activity in France (a Western European individualistic country) and in China (an East Asian collectivist country). Method: Six hundred and twenty-seven sport science students in France (N = 308, Mage = 18.99, SD = 1.64) and China (N = 319, Mage = 20.44, SD = 1.09) completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire long version and the Portrait Values Questionnaire. Results: In both France and China, moderated regression analysis revealed that hedonism positively/negatively predicted physical activity, while security-societal, security-personal, and conformity-rules values negatively predicted physical activity. In contrast, stimulation and universalism-nature values positively predicted physical activity only in France. In China, benevolence and benevolence-care positively predicted physical activity, while power dominance negatively predicted physical activity. Additionally, we found evidence of measurement invariance of the value questionnaire. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings add to the literature by showing that the value--behavior link is partly the same across countries and partly different. Further, our findings show that for certain populations, the previously established hierarchy of human values does not replicate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the aggressor-victim difference in perceived legitimacy of aggression in soccer as a function of score information (tied, favorable, unfavorable), sporting penalization (no risk, yellow card, red card), and type of aggression (instrumental, hostile). French male soccer players (N = 133) read written scenarios and rated the legitimacy of the described aggressive act depending on a specific perspective (aggressor or victim) and situational information. A significant aggressor-victim difference in perception of instrumental aggression was found in situations where the score was tied or where there was no risk to be caught. In addition, aggressors were affected by such information, whereas victims were not. The discussion focuses on explanations and implications of such divergences in aggressive sport situations. (Contains 1 note, 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Prior research has found that referees are harsher toward sporting offenses in regional-level matches between women than in regional-level matches between men. We tested whether this bias also occurs at a higher, national level of competition, despite the greater pressures for objectivity and fairness at this level. Referees' decisions were examined in 15 national-level handball matches between women and 15 national-level handball matches between men after transgressions that varied in severity. The results suggest that referees made harsher decisions in female than in male matches. Although more research is needed, this study supported the hypothesis that referees may use the gender of players as a powerful judgmental heuristic for deciding how to respond to aggression.

Most researchers have defined aggression in sport as overt acts violating the formal rules and intentionally causing harm. Such conduct in team sports may also be conceptualized as a kind of social interaction, which would suggest aggression is not judged as an isolated act but as a set of actions and reactions between individuals. In many contexts, including sports, individuals who transgress social norms and/or cause harm to another are confronted with negative reactions and asked to account for that violation. In this sense, the episode may constitute an integral part of the aggressive situation and partially determine the interaction. This study explores the athletes' perception of accounts given for aggression in soccer. Social psychologists have differentiated several account types. Apology expresses the acceptance of personal responsibility, whereas excuse and justification attempt to minimize this responsibility in terms of (uncontrollable) causes and reasons, respectively. Last, denials fully reject personal responsibility. Verbal explanations use different combinations of acknowledgement of association and harmfulness. Previous studies of accounts selection for interpersonal transgressions found a predominance of apology when the action was accidental, while excuse was favored when the action was intentional. Because others' negative reactions may become more severe for perceived intentional harm in the justice system, aggressors may attempt to convince officers and judges that their acts were unintentional or uncontrollable to shift responsibility. This same justification might be reflected in team sports. Referees have considerable power to penalize or remove deviant players, so athletes may favor responsibility-rejecting accounts. (Contains 1 table.)

The purpose of this role-playing study was to explore the perceived legitimacy of aggression in soccer as a function of perspective related differences (aggressor vs victim) and type of aggression (instrumental vs hostile). 120 soccer players watched videotaped aggressive interactions in soccer and took the perspective of the actors (aggressor then victim or the reverse). Then they rated the legitimacy of each aggressive behavior depending on its ultimate goal (instrumental then hostile or the reverse), When participants adopted the aggressor perspective, they perceived instrumental aggression as more legitimate than hostile aggression. In contrast, when participants took the perspective of the victim, no significant difference was found regard less of the type of aggression. The discussion focussed on implications and consequences of such divergences in aggressive sport situations.

This study aims at examining observed aggression in team sports as a function of gender, competitive level, and sport type. It was hypothesized that (a) male players display more aggressive behaviors than female players, (b) aggressive behaviors increase when competitive level rises, and (c) gender difference in observed aggression is depending on sport type. One hundred and eighty games, equally shared among males and females, soccer and handball, and departmental, regional, and national competitive levels were recorded on videotapes and observed using a grid to differ instrumental from hostile aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that male players always display more aggressive behaviors than female players, whatever the sport, the competitive level or the nature of the observed aggression; instrumental aggressive behaviors increase and hostile aggressive behaviors decrease when competitive level rises; and the gender difference appears larger in handball than in soccer.

This study examined the relationships between perceived motivational climate and observed aggression as a function of competitive level in youth male French handball. Players (n = 162) and coaches (n = 21)from 15 teams completed a French version of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (Walling, Duda, & Chi, 1993). Sixteen handball games (8 per context) were videotaped and observed on monitor by means of a grid allowing the distinction between instrumental and hostile aggression. Results indicated that interregional level players (higher level) displayed more instrumental aggression than departmental level players (lower level). Furthermore, discriminant analysis revealed that, at the interregional level players who were classified as highly perceived performance-oriented motivational climate displayed more instrumental aggression than lowly classified ones., It is now widely accepted that aggressive play is an important component of team sports (Mintah, Huddleston, & Doody, 1999: Ryan, Williams, & Wimer, 1990; Silva, 1983; Stephens, 2001). Despite [...]