Aggression In Sport Essay

Aggression in sport can be a complex issue, and is obvious within the sporting domain. Depending upon the context the term can be confusing and may have positive and negative implications. Many forms of aggression can be accepted and even promoted as part of the game because aggression can be an attacking behaviour. However, in most sports it is unacceptable as it is not within the rules and may be the infliction of pain and injury towards others (Gill & Williams, 2008). This essay will consider the definition of aggression and reflect upon the causes of aggression. It will also focus on the different types of aggression as types of aggressive behaviour fall into different categories: assertion and aggression, before breaking down further into instrumental aggression and hostile aggression. The essay will also focus on the definition of assertion and the key differences between aggression and assertion as well as strategies that coaches and players can use to ensure that aggression remains under control. These similarities and differences will now be discussed with reference to the appropriate literature.

Aggression can simply be defined as, “any form of behaviour directed toward the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment” (Baron & Richardson, 1994, p.7). According to (Gill & Williams, 2008) there are four components, which are necessary for an aggressive act to be classified as aggression. Aggression is a behaviour that involves intention to cause harm or injury towards someone, and is directed towards a living organism. Aggressive behaviour can be physical, psychological or emotional through verbal or gestural acts upon an individual (Duda, 1998). Therefore a player intimidatin...

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...nd self-talk can be used to generate a more encouraging experience: avoiding negative thoughts and feelings, enabling the performer to imagine a situation and avoid challenging situations. A coach can also encourage performers to channel their aggression and encourage performance goals rather than outcome goals. This will help to reduce arousal levels increasing and will avoid aggressive situations (Jones, 2003).

To conclude, it is evident that aggression in sport cannot always be clearly distinguished and for this reason there is an underlying philosophy as to, what is acceptable within assertive behaviour and what may be deemed as unacceptable in instrumental aggressive behaviour (Weinberg & Gould, 2012). It is also evident that aggression within sport can involve elements of both hostile and instrumental aggression, causing confusion (Anderson & Bushman, 2002).