Condoning aggressive behaviour in sport: A cross-sectional research in a few consecutive age categories

Eric Fruchart (1) , Patricia Rulence-Pâques (2)

1 SHERPAS - Sociologie, Histoire, Education, Représentations, Pratiques et Activités Sportives - URePSSS
2 ULCO - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale

The aim of this study was to compare the way in which 216 young handball players (Mage = 12.79, SD = 2.20) of different ages (9-10 years-old, 11-12 years-old, 13-14 years-old, and 15-16 years-old) combined and integrated 5 different information cues (the consequences of the aggression, the current score, the time left to play, the context of the aggression, the relative importance of the game) for judging the extent to which an aggressive act performed by a player during a match in handball could be condoned. The participants indicated their judgment in 48 scenarios constructed from the combination of these information cues. A cluster analysis has been done. Two different positions on moral judgment were observed. The information cues were combined differently and moral judgment increased according the young players' age. The approach of information integration completes the previous studies on developmental moral judgment in sport.

Keywords: sport; moral judgment; moral development; young players; information integration

Domains: Psychology

Eric Fruchart, Patricia Rulence-Pâques. Condoning aggressive behaviour in sport: A cross-sectional research in a few consecutive age categories. Journal of Moral Education, 2016, 45, pp.87 - 103. ⟨10.1080/03057240.2015.1124381⟩. ⟨hal-03425969⟩