Résumé
Sport officials are vital to organized youth sport; yet, abuse and lack of respect are major stressors that contribute to officials exiting sport (Hancock et al., 2015). Recent literature cited coaches and athletes as primary sources of official abuse across a variety of sports in Canada (Hancock et al., 2024). Youth athletes’ actions often parallel those displayed or encouraged by their coach (Bolter & Kipp, 2018); however, whether and how this relationship translates to behaviour toward officials is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of coach behaviour on athlete moral behaviour toward officials. A total of 243 competitive youth ice hockey athletes (Mage = 13.61 years) read one of two vignettes in which coach behaviour was manipulated (i.e., antisocial or neutral response) and indicated their subsequent behavioural response. Open-ended questions assessed participants’ emotional and behavioural responses to the vignette. A one-way MANOVA with 204 participants who passed the attention check revealed a non-significant effect of condition (i.e., coach response) on athlete’s likelihood to engage in direct and indirect antisocial behaviour toward officials (F(1, 202) = .823, p = .44). A content analysis of the open-ended questions indicated mixed emotional responses regardless of condition that supported (e.g., felt proud of coach for protecting team) or disproved of (e.g., disappointed, scared, felt unsafe) the coach’s behaviour. Future research should continue exploring alternative methodologies to understand the social dynamics of youth sport and their influence on athletes’ moral behaviour toward officials.
