After a recent University of Idaho study reported that character growth is negatively affected by involvement in sports, Boston University athletes and administrators say the study's findings are visible in athletes' behavior on and off the field.
Boston University Sports Psychology Director Dr. Len Zaichkowsky said the topic of low moral judgment in athletes has been "bounced around" in recent years.
"They are just so competitive that they'll do whatever it takes to win - within the rules," he said. "But when you try to measure what's right and wrong in life and then in sports, it depends on what circumstance you're in."
The study, conducted over the past 17 years, evaluated 72,000 individuals from 1987 to 2004 and linked moral development with the competitive nature of organized athletics, as opposed to recreational activities.
"The environment of athletics has not been supportive of teaching and modeling moral knowing, moral valuing and moral action," the results stated.
The study reported that athletes' moral levels declined from the beginning of the study and that athletes who compete in team sports have a lower moral judgment than their peers who compete individually. Women also have the same "low level" of moral action as their male counterparts, according to the results.
Participants in the study were asked to evaluate certain scenarios, by saying if they strongly agreed, agreed, were neutral, disagreed or strongly disagreed. Scenarios ranged from a foul call a referee may have missed to the fairness of heckling.
College of General Studies sophomore and soccer player Ashley Locasale said she disagreed with the study, but could "understand how the competitive nature could not allow your morals to show."
"I think the level of competition is so competitive in collegiate sports that other things are more important than morality, like winning, playing hard and getting the job done," she said.
BU golfer Jed Prescott said being immoral in golf is not something he sees as blatantly as in other sports.
"Being a golfer, you have to have respect for the game and the rules," the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior said. "However, the more intense the competition, the more careless [athletes] become with their decision-making."
Prescott said he's observed no difference between the pressures of team sports and individual competition.
"I think it all goes in the same mold," he said. "You don't want to let your team down. You're not representing yourself. You're representing BU." Locasale said she believes there is a difference in the pressure an athlete feels in a team sport versus that felt in an individual sport.
"When you play for a team you want to play hard for your teammates," she said. "With an individual sport, you rely on yourself. Playing for a team adds pressure."
Former BU soccer and track athlete Rebekah Conway said the degree of hostility she observed with opponents varied depending on the sport.
"There's definitely a difference between individual and team sports," the CAS senior said. "In track, you're a lot friendlier with opposing players. In soccer, you don't speak to the other team."
Zaichkowsky said that for such a large university, BU has remained virtually scandal-free with respect to cheating, coaching and drug use. He said he attributes this to the caliber of athletes and coaches at the university.
"Most good coaches would go after the athlete [for cheating], although some coaches do encourage it," he said.
Zaichkowsky said during an athlete's childhood, parents are responsible for the moral teachings, but once they reach the collegiate level, the responsibility is on the coach.
"When you get here it's the actions of the coach that matter, there's a huge influence [on athletes] by how they act," he said.
Coaches also take on the role of parents as disciplinarians, Conway said.
"Your parents taught you for 18 years, but in college it's more the coach's responsibility," she said. "If you get in trouble, your coach is called before your parents."
Student Athlete Support Services Director Karen Plescia said she recognized the high standards BU athletes are held to, helping reduce problems within university athletics, specifically with drug and alcohol use.
"We hold our athletes to the highest standards," she said. "They're more closely monitored academically and more closely scrutinized."
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