The Motivational Underpinnings of Intentions to Use Doping in Sport: A Sample of Young Non-Professional Athletes

Andrea Chirico, Fabio Lucidi, Gennaro Pica, Daniela Di Santo, Federica Galli, Fabio Alivernini, Luca Mallia, Arnaldo Zelli, Arie W. Kruglanski and Antonio Pierro
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Andrea Chirico: Department of Psychology of Development and Socialisation Processes, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Fabio Lucidi: Department of Psychology of Development and Socialisation Processes, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Gennaro Pica: Law School, University of Camerino UNICAM, 62032 Macerata, Italy
Daniela Di Santo: Department of Psychology of Development and Socialisation Processes, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Federica Galli: Department of Psychology of Development and Socialisation Processes, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Fabio Alivernini: Department of Psychology of Development and Socialisation Processes, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Luca Mallia: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Arnaldo Zelli: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Arie W. Kruglanski: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Antonio Pierro: Department of Psychology of Development and Socialisation Processes, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Doping use is considered as a deviant behavior in sport contexts, and it is necessary to recognize preventive factors to shut down the negative consequences. We proposed that athletes experiencing loss of personal significance would be more prone to doping use intentions. This pathway should occur through the effect of the enhanced predominance of obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion that such athletes experience concerning their sport activity, which, in turn, facilitates the adoption of moral disengagement strategies to find justifications for it, when they perceive that significant others approve their intention. The study relied on a cross-over design, with a convenience sample of 437 athletes recruited at four sports sciences Universities evenly distributed in Italy. Questionnaires administered contained a validated tool based on Kruglanski’s theorizing on radical and deviant behavior (e.g., Loss of Significance, Obsessive, and Harmonious passion) and deriving from social cognitive theory (e.g., Moral disengagement). Results of the study tested a serial mediation moderated model, which links the different variables to explain the influence they have on the intentions to use doping. Overall, this research suggests a motivational dynamic that may be at the heart of illicit behaviors in sport, such as using drugs-enhancing performance potentially among athletes of all kinds.

Keywords: doping intentions; significance loss; passion; normative influence; moral disengagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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