“He yells because he cares”: jury perceptions of emotional abuse from a sports coach toward child athletes

Abstract

In recent years, several instances of coach-perpetrated emotional abuse toward athletes have surfaced, such as in the case of Mike Teti, a U.S. Olympic rowing coach. Emotional abuse in the realm of sports seems to occur in the context of a coach “helping the athlete reach their potential.” However, little to no research exists on how these cases are viewed in the courtroom. In the present study, a 2 (Victim Age: 9-year-old x 17-year-old victim) x 2 (Victim Gender) x 2 (Participant Gender) between-participants design was used to investigate civil court decisions when a male soccer coach was sued by an athlete’s family for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. One hundred seventy-seven participants recruited from Mechanical Turk read a trial summary and answered questions about the trial. Results revealed that male victims received fewer pro-victim judgments (i.e., plaintiff decisions), and this relationship was due to participants perceiving male victims as lower in emotional distress, showing less sympathy for the male victim, and judging the coach as being less to blame. In addition, male participants and previous involvement in sports led to more pro-defendant judgments. Results are discussed in terms of psychological theory and courtroom implications are provided.

Keywords:

• Abuse
• children’s sports
• civil court
• coaching
• emotional abuse
• legal decision-making;
• male victims
• mock jurors

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Ethical standards and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kyle P. Rawn

Kyle P. Rawn, M.S., is a third-year doctoral student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY in the experimental psychology program.

Andrea Pals

Andrea M. Pals, M.S., is a third-year doctoral student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY in the experimental psychology program.

Jonathan M. Golding

Jonathan M. Golding, Ph.D., is a tenured full professor at the University of Kentucky in the experimental psychology program where he is, and has been, researching psychology and law for over 30 years.