Moral Atmosphere and Athletic Aggressive Tendencies in Young Soccer Players

The major purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the moral atmosphere of athletic teams to athletes' self-described likelihood to aggress (SLA). Two additional purposes were: first, to determine whether there was a predominant figure most influential to athletes' SLA and, secondly, to examine potential gender differences in athletes' perceived team moral atmosphere, their SLA and the most influential person affecting their SLA. Participants were 194 male and female soccer players 13-19 years of age. Athletes' perceptions of their team pro-aggressive norms emerged as the most consistent predictor of their SLA. Regardless of gender, the athletes reported that they would be more likely to aggress if they thought their coach supported such behaviour. The findings shed light on the influence that significant others have in "shaping" the moral atmosphere operating on youth sport teams.