The Utility of Moral Stage Analysis in the Investigation of Athletic Aggression

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the theoretical and empirical relationship between stages of moral reasoning and athletic aggression, and thus to offer a new model for the investigation of aggression in sport. In this pilot work, 22 female and 24 male basketball players’ moral reasoning levels were determined through the administration of Rest’s Defining Issues Test (DIT); athletic aggression measures included coaches’ ranking and ratings of player aggressiveness, and statistics pertaining to players’ fouls per season game. Significant judgment-action results were congruent with hypothesized relationships. The results are discussed within a cognitive-developmental framework.