Associations of Moral Disengagement, Passion, and Competitive Anger and Aggressiveness with Attitudes toward Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport by Austin Wade Wilson A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Recreation and Leisure Studies Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2014 ©Austin Wade Wilson 2014 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract The main purpose of the present study was to explore relationships between moral disengagement in sport and attitudes toward performance enhancing drugs. Additionally, the purpose was to explore the specific mechanisms of moral disengagement in sport in relation to attitudes toward performance enhancing drugs and the role that emotion might play in this relationship. A secondary purpose of the study was to investigate relationships between moral disengagement in sport with a variety of factors that have not been associated with moral disengagement in sport before (i.e., competitive anger and aggressiveness and obsessive and harmonious passion). Participants were 587 male and female varsity and co-ed intramural athletes from four Southern Ontario universities. Athletes completed a battery of scales that assessed moral disengagement in sport (i.e., the Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale: MDSS, Boardley & Kavussanu, 2007), attitudes toward performance enhancing drugs (i.e., the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale: PEAS, Petróczi, 2006), guilt and shame (i.e., the Personal Feelings Questionnaire: PFQ-2, Harder & Zalma, 1990), obsessive and harmonious passion (i.e., the Passion Scale, Vallerand at al., 2003), and competitive anger and aggressiveness (i.e., the Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger Scale: CAAS, Maxwell & Moores, 2007). The results for the primary research questions indicated that moral disengagement in sport positively predicted attitudes toward performance enhancing drugs. More specifically, the non-responsibility mechanism of moral disengagement in sport was the only mechanism that positively predicted more lenient attitudes toward performance enhancing drugs, while advantageous comparison was a significant negative predictor of iii attitudes toward performance enhancement drugs. The results indicated that emotion had no moderation effect on the relationship between moral disengagement in sport and attitudes toward performance enhancing substances. In relation to the secondary research questions, the data indicated that competitive anger and aggressiveness as well as obsessive passion positively predicted moral disengagement in sport, while harmonious passion negatively associated with moral disengagement in sport. Additionally, the results indicated that aggressiveness and obsessive passion were positive predictors of attitudes toward performance enhancement drug use, while harmonious passion was a significant negative predictor of performance enhancing drugs. Possible explanations for these findings and group differences of the sample (i.e., sex, competitive level, university attended, and contact level) are discussed as well as limitations and possibilities for future research. Implications for practice are also discussed in relation to educational possibilities for university level athletes and competitive recreational participants. iv Acknowledgements This research project would not have been possible with the support of many people. I first wish to acknowledge and express my gratitude to my supervisors Dr. Mark Havitz and Dr. Bryan Smale who were abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance, support and guidance. I am thankful for the space and freedom they provided to allow me to follow my passion and research interests. Mark and Bryan are at the pinnacle of what graduate supervisors/mentors should be. I am fortunate to have had the pleasure to work with them over the past four years and develop as a researcher, a professional, and a person. Gratitude is also due to the members of my committee: Dr. Steve Mock, Dr. Katie Misner, Dr. Peter Hall, & Dr. Sarah Teetzel. Without their knowledge, expertise, and assistance this study would not have been successful. Special thanks also go out to the Athletic Directors, Intramural Coordinators, Coaches, Varsity Athletes, and Intramural Athletes at the four universities for their time and cooperation with data collection. Without their assistance and time, this project would have never come to fruition. I would also like to acknowledge the new friends I have made during my time in Waterloo. It has been a pleasure to be involved with a wonderful group of people. The culture in the Rec and Leisure Studies Department is unique and friendly, a great place to conduct research, and share experiences both in and out of academics. I am proud to say that I was a part of the department for the past four years. Finally, I would like to thank my family, girlfriend Amanda, and support system. Their endless encouragement has been greatly appreciated and truly received. It has been a long road and I could not have been surrounded by a better group of people. I believe that you are a reflection of the people who have had the greatest impacts on your life; I hope I am doing them justice. Lastly, I cannot thank my best friend enough. My dog Murphy has been a pillar of love and support. No matter what seems to be going on in my life, he is always by my side. v Dedication I would like to dedicate my PhD to my parents Austin and Dorene, and my brother Rory. The culmination of this PhD is truly their achievement as much as it is mine vi Table of Contents AUTHOR'S DECLARATION ........................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................v Dedication .......................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Introduction .........................................................................................................1 1.1 Moral Disengagement in Sport ..................................................................................2 1.2 Attitudes of Performance Enhancing Substances in Sport .........................................5 1.3 Emotion and Moral Disengagement ...........................................................................6 1.4 Passion in Sports ........................................................................................................8 1.5 Competitive Anger and Aggressiveness in Sport .......................................................9 1.6 Purpose and Research Questions..............................................................................10 1.6.1 Primary Research Questions ..............................................................................11 1.6.2 Secondary Research Questions ..........................................................................12 Chapter 2 Literature Review ..............................................................................................13 2.1 Outline of Literature Review....................................................................................13 2.2 Sport: Definition and Why Study Moral Issues in Sport .........................................13 2.3 Moral Disengagement ..............................................................................................15 2.3.1 Reconstruction of Immoral Behaviour ..............................................................17 2.3.2 Obstruction of Personal Responsibility .............................................................17 2.3.3 Misrepresenting Injurious Consequences ..........................................................18 2.3.4 Blaming the Victims ..........................................................................................18 2.4 Moral Disengagement in Social Psychology ...........................................................18 2.5 Moral Disengagement in Sport ................................................................................20 2.6 Moral Disengagement During Sport-Quantitative Research ...................................21 2.7 Moral Disengagement During Sport-Qualitative Research .....................................23 vii 2.8 Moral Disengagement and Doping-Quantitative Research ......................................24 2.9 Moral Disengagement and Doping-Qualitative Research ........................................24 2.10 Future Research on Moral Disengagement in Sport ..............................................25 2.11 Emotion ..................................................................................................................25 2.11.1 Attribution-Based