Researchers from the UCD School of Psychology have completed a study exploring the attitudes and behaviour of athletes concerning performance enhancing drugs. Previous investigations into why competitors resort to doping have largely assumed that individual decision making was the most important factor but this new study which was backed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Irish Sports Council is the first to explore the wider psychological context or 'motivational climate' in which doping occurs.
The research team, led by Prof Aidan Moran, Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Director of the UCD Psychology Research Laboratory, surveyed 375 elite athletes from a variety of sporting disciplines. The report was delivered to WADA in May, ahead of the Beijing Olympics and also appears in New Scientist in August.
The study revealed that the athletes most inclined to be open to taking performance enhancing drugs were those whose trainers used negative coaching techniques such as harsh criticism, punishment for mistakes and encouraged rivalry amongst teammates. These factors were found to be as, if not more, important than individual factors within the athlete such as perfectionism and the desire to beat others.
The findings suggest positive coaching strategies which reward effort should be considered to discourage the doping culture. Prof Moran points out that a change to a more positive coaching style would present challenges: 'The real problem is to convince coaches that it will increase the likelihood of winning,' he said. Without that evidence, he feels that aggressive coaching techniques are likely to continue.
The study also revealed that 11% of the 375 elite athletes surveyed, admitted to knowingly using substances prohibited by WADA, while 2.2% had used doping products with a view to performance enhancement. A much larger number (42%) claimed to know fellow athletes who have used banned substances. Males were found to be more prone to doping than females and those competing in speed and power sports were much more at risk than team participants.
Prof Moran’s collaborators on the study were Kate Kirby and Dr Susan Guerin, UCD School of Psychology and Dr Tadhg MacIntyre,
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