Athletes’ Justification of Cheating in Sport: Relationship with Moral Disengagement in Sport and Personal Factors

Abstract

Research background and hypothesis. The research focus is on university athletes’ justification of cheating in
sport. We hypothesised that moral disengagement would be more linked to more favourable evaluations of cheating
in sports activities among athletes. Secondly it was hypothesised that justification of cheating in sport would be
linked to gender and, accordingly, it would not be associated with experience in sport.
Research aim was to reveal the dependence of the athletes’ assessment of cheating in their sports activities and
moral disengagement in sport considering their personal factors
Research methods.  The sample  included  338 (246 male  and  92  female) athletes recruited from Lithuanian
universities.The participants completed the Justification of Deception in Sport Scale  (Sukys, Nickus, 2010) and the
Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale-Short (MDSS-S; Boardley, Kavussanu, 2008).
Research  results.  The  regression  analyses  showed  that  gender  of  athletes  was  a  significant  predictor  for
justification of cheating in sport (β  = 0.15, p < 0.01) as male student athletes more justified cheating in sport. Years
of involvement in sport were not related with overall justification of cheating in sport. Moral disengagement in sport
was a predictor for the overall justification of cheating in sport (β  = 0.35, p < 0.001).
Discussion and conclusions. Our study revealed the relationship between moral disengagement in sport and
athletes’ justification of cheating in sport. Analysing different forms of cheating it was found that moral disengagement
in sport was a stronger predictor for the justification of such deceptive actions that are linked to athletes’ manipulation
of the rules of the sports and manipulation with the results of the sports contest. It was established that male student
athletes more justified cheating in sport. Research results did not reveal relationship between overall justifications of
cheating by years of involvement in sport. However, the analysis of the justification of different forms of cheating
showed that students with less sports experience more justified deceptive actions linked to the manipulation with the
results of the sports contest, and, on the contrary, less justified other forms of cheating in sport.

Keywords: sport, justifcation of cheating in sport, moral disengagement in sport.