"The Referee Plays to Be Insulted!": An Exploratory Qualitative Study on the Spanish Football Referees' Experiences of Aggression, Violence, and Coping

Trait emotional intelligence in competitive sports: are there differences in dimensions of emotional intelligence when comparing different sports?

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a determinant of athletic performance. Since each sport has its own psychological requirements, individual EI dimensions could have different relevance for athletic performance. This study investigated EI variations among athletes participating in 48 different sports, considering the specific emotional challenges faced by athletes in competitive sports using the appraisal theory of emotions. A total of 605 athletes (44.3% female) actively engaged in competitive sports completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire via an online survey. Analyses of variance, controlling for age and gender, revealed no overall link between EI and different sports. However, the dimension of self-control within EI demonstrated significant relevance among athletes in contact sports, sports with a higher degree of control over environmental conditions, and sports with direct referee intervention. On the other hand, the dimension of well-being within EI exhibited significant relevance for athletes in individual sports. Thus, this study suggests that investigating appraisal processes in athletes' emotional experiences, particularly focusing on the self-control dimension of EI, useful for future research in the field of EI.

They're Only Human! Tension and Stress Predict Performance of Softball Umpires in National Championships

The psychology of sports officials is often overlooked in psychology research. The present study addressed this disparity by exploring relationships among the mood, stress, and performance of Australian softball umpires. Six male and two female participants aged 25-68 years (M = 48.95 ± 17.39 years) each completed the Brunel Mood Scale before games and provided saliva samples on multiple occasions prior to and after officiating games at two Australian National Softball Championships. Data from 65 games were analysed with performance assessed using Softball Australia's umpire assessment tool. A significant positive relationship (p < 0.01) was found between tension scores and umpire performance. Using a stepwise regression analysis, tension scores and baseline cortisol level collectively explained 22.6% of the variance in umpire performance scores. These findings suggest that umpires require an optimal level of tension in the period leading up to competition to perform successfully, supporting the relationship between tension and performance first proposed by the inverted-U hypothesis.

Leadership in Finnish elite football: associations between players' self-assessed leadership roles and player-assessed head coach leadership behavior by player gender and age

We investigated the associations between Finnish top tier footballers' self-assessed leadership roles (task, motivational, social, external) and player-assessed head coach leadership behavior (supportiveness/emotional composure, negative activation) and leadership role in both practices and games. We also explored the player age- and gender-related differences. Online survey data were anonymously collected from 53 male and 91 female footballers. One player did not identify as male or female, and one chose not to answer the question. Spearman rank-order correlations revealed that players' self-assessed leadership roles correlated positively with their evaluation of their head coach's supportiveness/emotional composure and negatively with negative activation during practices and games. Independent samples T-tests showed that male footballers rated their head coaches lower on negative activation during games and practices and themselves higher on external leadership than female players. The youngest age group, aged 17-20, rated themselves also lower on external leadership than the three older groups.

Referee Abuse, Intention to Quit, and Well-Being

There are growing levels of abuse toward match officials in sport as well as general problems of their recruitment and retention. Purpose: This study analyzes the role that physical and nonphysical abuse has on association football referees' intentions to quit and their personal well-being. Methods: Drawing on pooled survey data of association football referees from the UK and Canada, this paper employs probit, ordinary least squares, and treatment effects regression analyses to explore the casual relationship between the physical and nonphysical abuse faced by referees, their intention to quit and their well-being. Results: Although physical abuse is less common than nonphysical abuse both affect the intention to quit and well-being of officials. Moreover, those that do not contemplate quitting also face reductions in their well-being. Conclusion: The research recommends a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of abuse of officials in sport and identifies that organizations have a duty of care for the well-being of their officials.

Personality profile of amateur team handball referees

Referees play a central role in competitive sport. Particularly in amateur sport, referees contribute significantly to making participation in sport possible for the masses. However, considering that every referee’s career starts at the grassroots level, it is very surprising that there has been no research on the personality traits of amateur referees so far. The current state of research indicates that personality is an essential component of the requirement profile of referees. Personality has been associated with job performance, particularly with regard to resilience and coping with pressure. Personality also affects effective game management in terms of influencing actions in the game in a preventative and proactive manner. This study, therefore, examines the personality profile of amateur handball referees (n = 582) for the first time using the German version of the Big Five Inventory 2 (BFI-2). Current data from German handball referees at the expert level and the German general population were used to compare and discuss the results. Except for lower scores in the domain of extraversion and the facets of sociability and energy level as well as a higher score in the facet of aesthetic sensitivity, amateur referees did not differ significantly from expert referees. In relation to the general population, the results indicate that handball referees, regardless of performance level, have higher scores in assertiveness, emotional stability, and responsibility. Our findings create awareness of personality traits in handball refereeing and illustrate the applied relevance of personality research, e.g., for coaching or recruitment activities.