Decisional trade-offs towards doping and their association with moral attitudes and health risk perceptions: A mixed methods study

ABSTRACT

The objective of the present research was to examine doping-related decisional trade-offs, and their relationship with health risk perceptions towards doping and moral attitudes in sport. A mixed methods sequential-explanatory design was used. In Study 1,249, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes from 16 countries completed anonymous online questionnaires on decisional trade-offs related to doping, health risk beliefs towards doping, moral attitudes in sport, and socio-demographic variables. The results showed that almost 1 in 10 athletes would trade their life for sporting success, independently of the moral implications of their choice. When mortal threat was absent, 31.5% of the athletes would trade morality for sporting success. Decisional trade-off choices differentiated scores in moral attitudes, such as acceptance of cheating and keeping winning in proportion. In Study 2, 11 British competitive MMA athletes were interviewed about decisional trade-offs involving moral violations or mortal threats. Thematic analysis corroborated the Study 1 findings, with most athletes dismissing the doping choice involving a mortal threat but endorsing the one where the mortal threat was absent. Anti-doping education in MMA athletes should target the decision-making process underlying doping, with an emphasis on moral values and the adverse health risk effects of doping.

KEYWORDS:

• Doping
• perceived health risk
• moral attitudes
• decisional trade-offs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Sandvik (2021) recently argued that athletes’ decision to dope may reflect interpersonal gains, such as loyalty to the team (e.g., when doping in the team is believed to be or is actually endorsed). Therefore, doping can be seen as serving both the individual and the group the individual belong to/identifies with.

² To be consistent with the definition of ever users (i.e., athletes who self-reported doping use) and never users (i.e., athletes who did not self-identify as doping users) used in Study 1.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Cyprus Anti-Doping Authority (CyADA).