Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
12-2018
Abstract
Acting prosocially can be quite challenging in one of the most salient intergroup contexts in contemporary society: Soccer. When winning is the ultimate goal, balancing self-interest with helping a fellow player in distress can be a tough decision; yet it happens. To date, we know little about what motivates soccer players to offer such help in the heat of the game. We propose that sex and what is at stake will matter in such prosocial dilemma situations. A pilot study (N = 107) indicated that female players may be more likely to help than male players, but this difference was only observed when the players are close to scoring position rather than far away from the goal (midfield). The main study (N = 366) finds that young soccer players show elevated inclinations to help in low-stakes situations, for example when their team is winning or when the outcome of the game seems pretty much decided. Contrariwise, helping intentions decline in high-stakes situations, for example when one's own team is losing, when one is close to a scoring position in the offense (rather than at the midfield), or when the outcome of the game is still uncertain. Furthermore, female players show somewhat greater inclinations to help than their male counterparts. The current data point at some differences for male and female soccer players, albeit small in effect size. In contrast, we conclude that especially quick cost-benefit judgments regarding the stakes can play a major role in decisions to help or not to help another player on the soccer field.
Keywords
Sex Factors, Soccer, Social Behavior, social norm
Discipline
Applied Behavior Analysis | Social Psychology | Sports Management
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
PLoS ONE
Volume
13
Issue
12
First Page
1
Last Page
14
ISSN
1932-6203
Identifier
10.1371/journal.pone.0209168
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Citation
Van Lange, Paul A. M., MANESI, Zoi, Meershoek, R. W. J., YUAN, Minglian, DONG, Mengchen, & Van Doesum, N. J..(2018). Do male and female soccer players differ in helping? A study on prosocial behavior among young players. PLoS ONE, 13(12), 1-14.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3081
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209168