Athletes and aggression: A systematic review of physical and verbal off-field behaviors

Abstract

For decades, scientists have explored the link between aggressive behaviors and being an athlete based on a persistent concern that behaviors encouraged during competition influence actions outside the sports context. Numerous publications have investigated the relationship between athlete identity and engaging in aggressive behaviors. Only a small percentage have used psychometrically validated instruments to measure aggressive behaviors. This is a critical limitation. The aim of this review is to summarize findings from studies preceding January 2023 that used validated measures to identify types and intensity of aggression. A total of 7392 articles were identified from several databases. Thirty-eight met the inclusion criteria. Fifteen compared athletes to non-athletes, and 23 examined aggression using athlete-only samples. Six comparison studies found no differences between athletes and non-athletes. Nine had mixed results. Among the studies that used athlete-only samples, competitive level, age, and sport type differentiated scores on the aggression measures. Methodological differences in the study designs (e.g., sample size, sport type, and competitive level) make it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions from this body of literature. Future research on this topic should focus on carefully constructing new studies or replicating existing ones paying close attention to the measurement instruments and study design methods.