by him, whether they felt their coach was reliable and psychologically available (Rutten et al., 2010, 2007). They also employed hypothetical scenarios describing the behaviours likely to occur during their game such as faking an injury, injuring an opposing player and pushing another player when the referees are not looking, after their game such as an argument in the changing room, and asked players to report how often they engaged in these behaviours (Rutten et al., 2007, 2008, 2010, Kavussanu). They indicated the extent to which they and their coaches had respect for the opponent and the formal and informal rules of the game (Rutten et al., 2008, Biesta et al., 2001). Data about the moral environment and moral reasoning in context of sport were also collected (Rutten et al., 2010). In addition, they were also asked to indicate experiences of when they felt successful in their sport, the motivational climate of the team and their participation in the team (Kavussanu, 2006).
This work revealed some interesting findings. Supportive coach–athlete relationships proved to be associated with less antisocial and more prosocial behaviour in the sports context. Coaches may have a positive impact by being psychologically available and trustworthy (Rutten et al., 2010). Similar trend was found in the study by Rutten et al. (2007). Athletes with task orientation and in mastery motivational climate positively predicted prosocial behaviour while athletes who were ego goal-oriented and in performance motivational climate positively predicted antisocial behaviour (Kavussanu, 2006). Additionally, hostile, rejecting, and unresponsive coaches may even harm adolescent athletes’ behavioural adjustment, especially in a performance-oriented motivational climate. The coaches’ attitudes towards fair play was found to influence their athletes’ choices of engagement in antisocial and prosocial behaviour (Biesta et al., 2001).
Teams/ Peer groups
Sport teams represent a rich context to investigate the role of peer groups on the social development of adolescents (Holt, Black, Tamminen, Fox, & Mandigo, 2008). Membership in sport teams fulfils a fundamental human need for belongingness (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). In a study by Bruner, Boardley and Côté (2014), examined s