DESCRIPTION
From viral videos of shouting coaches on grassroots levels to Netflix documentaries exposing psychological transgressive behaviour in elite teams, the question of where motivation ends and manipulation begins is more urgent than ever. Yet, many people still react to these scenes with comments like “That is just how champions are made” or “They needed that tough love”.
In the world of sport, power hierarchies, social norms and cultural mantras like “no pain, no gain” can lead people, both insiders and outsiders, to downplay, justify or even celebrate psychologically transgressive behaviour (e.g., verbal aggression, emotional pressure, exclusion). This thesis explores to study a niche of the normalisation of these behaviours in sports.
Drawing on the Framing Theory, this study investigates how simple shifts in narrative, before witnessing a coach-athlete conflict, can change how we judge the exact same behaviour. Do we excuse it because we are told it builds strength? Or do we condemn it when we are reminded that athlete well-being matters?
By combining experimental design, visual stimulus material, and psychological theories, this research aims to uncover the cognitive and emotional mechanisms behind the normalisation of harm in sports.
This is not just about sport. It is about how we make sense of authority, pressure, and discomfort – and what that says about us as individuals and society.
Keywords
Transgressive behaviour, sports, Framing Theory, power hierarchies
Research question
The main research question of this thesis is: “How do different narrative frames influence the psychological tolerance and moral evaluation of psychological transgressive behaviour in sports?”
TYPE OF Research
A between-subjects experimental design using video stimulus material and a standardised questionnaire.
DATA-ANALySIS
A between subjects experimental design using video stimulus material and a standardised questionnaire.
INFORMATION
Please contact Lynn Weiher (l.weiher@utwente.nl) when you are interested in this assignment. The assignment is open to one (or two) student(s).
Literature
· McGee, S., Kerr, G., Atkinson, M., & Stirling, A. (2024). “I always just viewed it as part of sport”: Psychological maltreatment and conformity to the sport ethic. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2024.2414002
· Fournier, C., Parent, S., & Paradis, H. (2022). The relationship between psychological violence by coaches and conformity of young athletes to the sport ethic norms. European Journal for Sport and Society, 19(1), 37-55. https://doi.org/10.080/15138171.2021.1878436
· Haandrikman, M., & Schipper-van Veldhoven, N. (2024). Building European Safe Sports Together: a conceptual framework of transgressive behaviour. Erasmus+ Project. https://research.utwente.nl/files/354565500/BESST_WP1_Report_final.pdf [Only chapter 2]