A crisis-related analysis of perceived referees’ behavior in competition

The purpose of the present study was to analyze perceived referees’ behavior, using a theory of psychological performance crisis in competition. Perceived referees’ behavior in competition was analyzed in terms of referee’s response in favor of, against, no response in favor of, and no response against the athlete, during a home or away game and expected or unexpected by the athlete. The perceived contribution of these variables to extreme psychological arousal states (crisis, non-crisis) was investigated. Eighty elite ball-game players estimated the occurrence probability of all Bayesian combinations among these variables under crisis and non-crisis conditions. A repeated measures ANOVA procedure revealed that psychological performance crisis was highly associated with (a) referee’s response against a player as well as no response in the player’s favor, (b) an away game, and (c) unexpected events. The repeated measures ANOVA findings also revealed that under non-crisis conditions, (a) no response against a player and a response in a player’s favor, (b) a home game, and (c) an expected event, were judged as more probable. The 4-way interaction between the variables was significant. Results are discussed theoretically in reference to the crisis construct.