Research on violance and aggression

 

Background to the Problem

Aggression and violence in sports has evolved over time and is now present in its current form as conflict that does not add value to the game (Spaaij & Schaillée, 2019).  With that said, participation in sports contributes to the health of a communities (Spaaij & Schaillée, 2019).  The height of competition in amateur sports is while the players are attending school-based programs or while in clubs (Spaaij & Schaillée, 2019).  Additionally, when a player is exposed to aggression in the short-term the body's “fight or flight” response is activated; this activation is associated with various physiological changes that help the body to prepare for environmental threats (Timmons, Han, Chaspari, Kim, Pettit, Narayanan, and Margolin, 2019).  Over time, being in this results in putting the body at risk for health problems later in life.  While adaptive in the short-term, prolonged exposure to “fight or flight” may alter physiological set points, causing “short-term life strategies,” where physiological is heightened to protect against threats (Timmons et al., 2019).  University student-athletes that are in leadership positions are influential on aggression levels.  A study by Erdal, Riza; Yilmaz, Mehmet, Basaran, Zekiye, Çolak, and Serap (2018) determined that there is no difference between in the level of aggression between college sports as well as there is not a difference in gender between athletes.  They went on to say that aggressive athletes on the field is good for the school’s overall level of aggression because students that participate in sports will use their excess energy during games and practice to become calm, positive, harmonious and happy individuals.

The image of a university is an extension of the organizational image.  The university image includes the perceptions of the stakeholders that include the students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, potential students, fans, residents, and the local and state government (Finch and Clopton, 2017).  The image of a University’s sport programs has a direct effect on the finances of the school.  Conger, Gerstner, and Vogel (2018) stated all the stakeholders of a university believe when a university has a positive image fans are more likely to attend home games, and that alumni would make more donations to the athletic programs.  College athletics are a vital aspect in the developing of brand image for colleges and universities.  Spectator sports provide the stakeholders with the opportunity to strengthen their institutional brand identities (Finch and Clopton 2017).  Finch and Clopton (2017) went on to say that that the overall image of the athletic programs has a direct impact on the image of the university and with the growth of off-campus and online students, the image of the university is very important.  Kerr (2018) found that there is limited research about women that play contact sports in general.  Kerr (2018) stated that by studying unsanctioned violence and aggression of female contact sports researchers can find ways to deal with those acts.   

Theoretical Framework

There are two theoretical foundations that was used in this research.  The first is game theory that was initially derived from Nash equilibrium, named after the late American mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr.  A variety of sports, such as basketball and baseball, are currently using analytics to evaluate the performance of the team players (Van Damme, 2016).  The second theory is frustration–aggression theory.  Frustration–aggression theory allows a researcher to analyze the behaviors of people that become more aggressive because they are not able to reach their goals (Dollard, Miller, Doob, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939).

According to Azar and Bareli (2011) Nash equilibrium is often used because it can be easily observed during play allowing the researcher to analyze the outcome of matches.  Unfortunately, during a game the Nash equilibrium may be present as well as other equilibriums that may be present and will affect the outcome of games.  According to Fort (2018), any model that is researching any of the college sports conference outcomes needs to incorporate the Nash equilibrium.  The second theory is frustration–aggression theory.  Athletes will often legitimize committing action of violence and are not able to produce nonviolent responses to a troubling situation during game play (Bartlett, and Abrams, 2019).  By using frustration–aggression theory a researcher was able to determine the amount of aggression displayed by a team of soccer players.  John Bollard, Leonard Boob, Neal Miller, O. H. Mowrer, and Robert Sears authored the theory of frustration and aggression; the authors stated that frustration causes aggression (Morlan, 1949). Frustration is one of many dynamics that influence behavior of an individual.  An aggressive behavior is an act is an expression of feelings toward another person or persons (Morlan, 1949).  The social forces that make people want to hurt others may make others fear them; when this is accomplished the feeling may act as a release for their aggressive feeling or in some cases it may increase it (Morlan, 1949).

This blog will use game theory in conjunction with frustration–aggression theory a researcher can determine if there is a significant difference in the number of red and yellow cards between the teams’ game outcomes.  The study could have a direct effect on the societal issue of aggression and violence in soccer.  Administrators can determine what levels are appropriate for their school and soccer programs and adjust accordingly.