Anxiety level and decision-making among Norwegian top-class soccer referees

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of anxiety experienced by Norwegian top-class soccer referees while officiating, and to predict the level of anxiety according to refereeing level and perceived refereeing competence. Also investigated were referees' perceptions of how crowd noise and disturbance from players and/or coaches, failure (i.e. mistakes) in refereeing, and aggressive behaviour by players and/or coaches influence their decision-making when officiating. A total of 83 (response rate: 84.7%) referees (73 men and 10 women) aged 20–46 years (mean = 33.2 years) completed our questionnaire using SurveyXact, a web-based program for conducting electronic questionnaires. The mean level of anxiety for all referees in the sample was 28 (SD = 5.4), as assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Form Y. A regression analysis showed that referees attending the premier league in Norway typically scored higher on anxiety compared with referees working at the second-best level. Furthermore, the referees who perceived their competence as being weaker or average (compared with their colleagues) scored significantly higher on anxiety than did the other referees (the “best” or “very best” groups). The majority of referees reported that noise and disturbance, failure in refereeing, and aggressive behaviour did not affect their decision-making (frequency of disagreement, 80–95%).

Keywords:

• anxiety
• decision-making
• soccer referees
• perceived competence
• social pressure

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the chief of the elite referees in the NFF, Mr Rune Pedersen, for helping us to distribute and encouraged the referees to take part in this study. The authors also thank all the referees for their participation, as well as the helpful feedback received from two anonymous reviewers.