A Study on the Relationship Between Sports and Aggression

Abstract

Aggression is a general feature of human beings, a potential condition which can be activated fast or slow and it may take various forms of manifestation. In sports, where the main characteristic is the competition itself, the essential coordinates of the existence are: rivalry, direct confrontation with the opponents, desire to win and optimal activation. Today, the increasing number and frequency of aggressive acts occurring on or around the sports ground, makes us wonder where or which are the limits of combativity. This situation also demands a good understanding of deep psychological connotations of such behaviors. This paper is first of all a review of the most important theories of aggression shaped over the time. Also, we mention some of the most relevant studies on the issue of aggression in sport. The research is based on social learning theory developed by Albert Bandura. For that purpose, it was developed a comparative analysis of the results obtained from 106 football players who completed a specific questionnaire for assessing hostility. There are significant differences between the index of anger expression specific to the age of 17-18 years and the one specific to the athletes with 14-15 years