Consequences of prosocail and antisocial teammate behaviours for the recipient

This thesis investigates the potential consequences of prosocial and antisocial teammate behaviours for the recipient in sport. Specifically, (a) whether prosocial and antisocial teammate behaviours are related to effort, performance, commitment, attention, task cohesion, burnout, and affective outcomes; and (b) the potential mediators and moderators of these relationships. Overall, prosocial teammate behaviour was positively related to enjoyment, happiness, positive affect, effort, performance, commitment, and task cohesion, and negatively related to burnout. The effects of prosocial teammate behaviour on: (a) effort, perceived performance, and commitment were mediated by enjoyment; (b) perceived performance and commitment were mediated by effort and perceived performance, respectively; and (c) task cohesion and burnout were mediated by positive affect. Mastery climate moderated the relationships between prosocial teammate behaviour and enjoyment and perceived performance. Antisocial teammate behaviour was positively related to anger, negative affect, actual performance, and burnout, and negatively related to effort, perceived performance, attention, and task cohesion. The effects of antisocial teammate behaviour on: (a) effort were mediated by anger; and (b) task cohesion and burnout were mediated by negative affect. Performance climate moderated the antisocial teammate behaviour-perceived performance relationship. These findings are discussed in relation to theory, relevant literature, implications, and future research directions

Moral Behavior

Prosocial and antisocial behaviors take place in sport and correspond to proactive and inhibitive morality. These behaviors could have important consequences not only for the recipient's physical and psychological well being, but also for the quality of the overall sport experience. Thus, understanding the factors that lead to, or inhibit, these behaviors is important. Motivational variables stemming from achievement goal theory and self-determination theory have been associated with both prosocial and antisocial behaviors in sport, highlighting the important role of motivation on moral behavior. Moral disengagement, a strong positive predictor of antisocial behavior, could explain the effects of motivational variables on this behavior. Moral variables are also highly influential with both moral identity and empathy inhibiting antisocial behavior; anticipated guilt has been identified as a mediator in this process, underlining the significance of emotion on moral behavior. Finally, bracketed morality exists in sport, and may be a manifestation of the intergroup bias phenomenon

Teammate Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors Predict Task Cohesion and Burnout:The Mediating Role of Affect

The manner in which teammates behave toward each other when playing sport could have important achievement-related consequences. However, this issue has received very little research attention. In this study, we investigated whether (a) prosocial and antisocial teammate behaviors predict task cohesion and burnout, and (b) positive and negative affect mediates these relationships. In total, 272 (Mage = 21.86, SD = 4.36) team-sport players completed a multisection questionnaire assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated that prosocial teammate behavior positively predicted task cohesion and negatively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by positive affect. The reverse pattern of relationships was observed for antisocial teammate behavior which negatively predicted task cohesion and positively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by negative affect. Our findings underscore the importance of promoting prosocial and reducing antisocial behaviors in sport and highlight the role of affect in explaining the identified relationships

Effects of Opponent Verbal Antisocial Behaviour on Anger, Attention, and Performance

Sledging, a form of verbal antisocial behaviour in sport, aims to impair an opponent’s performance. Previously, variations in performance have been attributed to changes in emotion and cognition. To improve our understanding of sledging, the current experiment examined the effects of verbal antisocial behaviour on anger, attention and performance. Participants performed a competitive basketball free-throw shooting task under insult (verbal behaviour designed to offend and upset the performer), distraction (verbal behaviour designed to draw attention away from the task), or control (neutral verbal behaviour) conditions. Performance was assessed by the number of successful baskets and a points-based scoring system, while anger and attention were measured post-task. The insult condition provoked more anger than the control and distraction conditions, whereas the insult and distraction conditions increased distraction and reduced self-focus compared to the control condition. Although verbal antisocial behaviour had no overall direct effect on performance, mediation analysis showed that anger indirectly impaired performance via distraction. Implications for the antisocial behaviour-performance relationship are discussed

Structural relationships between emotional intelligence, well-being, and psychological distress: a multi-group SEM study among undergraduate physical education students in three Arab countries

BackgroundEmotional intelligence (EI) has been consistently associated with higher levels of psychological well-being (WB) and lower levels of psychological distress (PD). Yet, relatively little is known about how these relationships operate within Arab cultural contexts, especially among students training to become professionals in fields that promote both mental and physical health. Given the growing recognition of mental health challenges among youth in the region, examining these associations within Arab university settings is both timely and important. This study aimed to investigate how EI, WB, and PD are connected in undergraduate physical education students from Oman, Kuwait, and Jordan. It also examined whether WB helps explain the link between EI and PD and whether the proposed model holds consistently across these different cultural settings.MethodsA cross-sectional survey design was used with a sample of 788 undergraduate physical education students. Participants completed validated self-report measures assessing EI (five theoretically grounded dimensions: Self-Awareness, Empathy, Self-Regulation, Social Regulation, and Emotional Control), psychological well-being (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale), and psychological distress (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) evaluated the measurement models, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) tested direct and indirect relationships. Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (MGCFA) examined measurement invariance across the three countries. To provide a more comprehensive picture of the associations, Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were also conducted.ResultsCFA confirmed the validity and reliability of the measures across all three samples. The SEM results indicated that EI was directly and positively related to WB, and indirectly related to PD through the mediating effect of WB. While configural and metric invariance were established, scalar invariance was not, limiting mean-level comparisons across countries. Nonetheless, the achieved invariance allowed valid structural analyses. Mediation analysis revealed that WB significantly mediated the EI– PD relationship in Kuwait, but not in Oman or Jordan. These findings suggest that the strength and direction of psychological mechanisms may vary by cultural context.ConclusionThe study highlights the positive role of EI in enhancing well-being and reducing psychological distress among university students in Arab contexts. However, the pathways linking these constructs may differ across cultural settings. Practical implications include the integration of emotional intelligence development into university curricula, particularly in disciplines that emphasize both mental and physical health. These findings emphasize the need for culturally sensitive approaches to emotional intelligence training and mental health promotion, especially for students preparing to serve as future educators and health professionals