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Predicting elite Scottish athletes’ attitudes towards doping: examining the contribution of achievement goals and motivational climate a

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Justine Allen , John Taylor , Paul Dimeo , Sarah Dixon & Leigh Robinson

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School of Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK Published online: 24 Dec 2014.

Click for updates To cite this article: Justine Allen, John Taylor, Paul Dimeo, Sarah Dixon & Leigh Robinson (2014): Predicting elite Scottish athletes’ attitudes towards doping: examining the contribution of achievement goals and motivational climate, Journal of Sports Sciences, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2014.976588 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.976588

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Journal of Sports Sciences, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.976588

Predicting elite Scottish athletes’ attitudes towards doping: examining the contribution of achievement goals and motivational climate

JUSTINE ALLEN, JOHN TAYLOR, PAUL DIMEO, SARAH DIXON & LEIGH ROBINSON School of Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK

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(Accepted 28 May 2014)

Abstract Understanding athletes’ attitudes to doping continues to be of interest for its potential to contribute to an international anti-doping system. However, little is known about the relationship between elite athletes’ attitudes to drug use and potential explanatory factors, including achievement goals and the motivational climate. In addition, despite specific World Anti-Doping Agency Code relating to team sport athletes, little is known about whether sport type (team or individual) is a risk or protective factor in relation to doping. Elite athletes from Scotland (N = 177) completed a survey examining attitudes to performance-enhancing drug (PED) use, achievement goal orientations and perceived motivational climate. Athletes were generally against doping for performance enhancement. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that task and ego goals and mastery motivational climate were predictors of attitudes to PED use (F (4, 171) = 15.81, P < .01). Compared with individual athletes, team athletes were significantly lower in attitude to PED use and ego orientation scores and significantly higher in perceptions of a mastery motivational climate (Wilks’ lambda = .76, F = 10.89 (5, 170), P < .01). The study provides insight into how individual and situational factors may act as protective and risk factors in doping in sport. Keywords: performance-enhancing substances, anti-doping, doping, achievement motivation

Introduction The development and implementation of an international, harmonised anti-doping system has progressed significantly through the activities of World AntiDoping Agency (WADA). Alongside these changes, there has been increased research investigating the individual and situational factors that influence athletes’ doping behaviour and attitudes towards doping (Lazuras, Barkoukis, Rodafinos, & Tzorbatzoudis, 2010; Lentillon-Kaestner & Carstairs, 2010; Smith et al., 2010). However, early research lacked clear theoretical grounding, resulting in limited development of a coherent understanding of how the wide range of factors identified interact to influence the adoption, maintenance and/or cessation of doping behaviour in sport (Backhouse, Atkin, McKenna, & Robinson, 2007). Although more recently researchers have adopted social cognitive theories to explain the processes underpinning doping attitudes and behaviour, they have focused largely on the relationships with individual factors such as perceptions of behavioural control, normative beliefs, motivation and goal orientations (Barkoukis, Lazuras, Tsorbatzoudis, & Rodafinos, 2011; Lazuras et al., 2010; SasNowosielski & Swiatkowska, 2008). Relatively little is

known about the relationship with athletes’ perceptions of the immediate social context. In addition, despite Article 11 of the WADA Code providing regulation for the sanctioning of athletes within teams, no research has directly focused on the difference between team and individual sports. Indeed, this difference is rarely mentioned as a potential explanation for either risky doping behaviour or as a protective factor. Therefore, a theoretically based examination of individual and situational factors associated with attitudes towards doping will contribute to understanding doping behaviours and could help inform ways to reduce risk by directing policy at specific personal and environmental features. A theoretical approach that may prove useful for understanding precipitating factors and attitudes to doping is Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) (Nicholls, 1989). AGT proposes that how individuals define competence and success (goal orientation) and how their social context is shaped (motivational climate) influence motivated behaviours. Specifically, with a task goal orientation and in a mastery motivational climate, competence and success are defined in self-referenced terms such as personal improvement and development. In contrast, an ego orientation and

Correspondence: Justine Allen, School of Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK. E-mail: [email protected] © 2014 Taylor & Francis

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a performance motivational climate define competence and success in reference to others (normative) such as outperforming others and winning. Holding an ego goal orientation has been associated with overall lower levels of moral functioning. This includes expressing unsportspersonlike attitudes and orientations, engaging in unsportspersonlike behaviours, viewing intentionally injurious act as justified and employing less mature moral reasoning (Kavussanu, 2007). In contrast, a task orientation has consistently been associated with sportspersonship (Kavussanu, 2007). Extrapolating these findings to doping attitudes and behaviour, it seems reasonable to suggest that a task orientation and mastery climate may provide a protective factor while an ego orientation and performance climate may place athletes at risk. Preliminary support for AGT in understanding doping in sport has been demonstrated. SasNowosielski and Swiatkowska (2008) found that athletes who were relatively higher in ego goal orientation compared with task orientation were more likely to endorse doping. In contrast, a relatively higher task orientation was associated with more favourable attitudes towards anti-doping. The study included athletes with a wide range of ages and sport experiences limiting its applicability to elite athletes. In a study of elite Greek athletes, Barkoukis et al. (2011) examined the relationship among individual psychological factors such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and achievement goals, and self-reported performance-enhancing drug (PED) use. They found that athletes with a stronger mastery achievement goal reported lower past doping use and lower intention for future use. Given the promising initial findings using AGT, future research is warranted to examine this relationship in different samples. To date, researchers employing AGT in the study of doping have only examined athletes’ goal orientations (i.e. an individual factor); however, the theory also identifies the importance of the social psychological context, the motivational climate, in determining motivated behaviour. The motivational climate pertains to the goals that are emphasised and the values that are salient in the achievement context (Ames, 1992), and it is created by the actions of significant others such as the coach (Duda & Balaguer, 2007). The mastery climate has been positively associated with prosocial behaviour, sportspersonship, including respect for the game, rules, officials, opponents and teammates, and negatively related to anti-social behaviour. In contrast, a performance climate has been positively linked to anti-social behaviour and low levels of sportspersonship and moral functioning (e.g. Boardley & Kavussanu, 2009; Gano-Overway, Guivernau, Magyar, Waldron, & Ewing, 2005; Kavussanu, 2006; Kavussanu & Spray, 2006; Miller, Roberts, & Ommundsen, 2004). Coaches have been

identified as important social influences in athletes’ doping attitudes, intentions and behaviour (Johnson, 2011; Lentillon-Kaestner & Carstairs, 2010; Smith et al., 2010). Although not employing AGT, Lazuras et al.’s (2010) study of Greek elite-level athletes assessed what they referred to as “situational temptation” as means to capture contextual behavioural control mechanisms that might be related to doping behaviour. They found that when situational temptation was included in the analysis it was a stronger predictor of intention for doping than individual factors such as perceptions of normative beliefs, behavioural control and attitudes. The measure comprises four “tempting” situations including one relating directly to the coach. These findings reinforce the need to further examine the influence of the immediate social context on attitudes towards doping and behaviour. In summary, research indicates both individual and social contextual factors are related to doping attitudes and behaviour. However, despite demonstrated associations between achievement goals and doping attitudes, researchers have not examined the contribution the coach-created motivational climate may play in explaining athletes’ attitudes towards doping. In addition, while the sport type (team and individual) has not been examined as a potential explanation for doping behaviour and attitudes towards doping, Article 11 of the WADA Code does create a specifically constructed outcome for doping violations within team sports. Examining whether team and individual sport athletes differ with regards to achievement goals and perception of the motivational climate is important to ensure that policy and anti-doping measures are grounded in evidence-based knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the relationships among elite athletes’ achievement goal orientations, perceived coachcreated motivational climate and attitudes towards PED use in sport. Based on AGT and research, it was hypothesised that a task goal orientation and a mastery climate would be associated with less positive attitudes towards drug use, whereas an ego goal orientation and performance climate would be associated with more “risky” attitudes towards drug use. In addition, of interest in this study was whether goal orientations and climate would interact in predicting attitudes to drug use. Examination of interaction effects is supported by achievement goal theorists (Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Nicholls, 1989) who proposed that the perceived motivational climate may moderate the relationship between goals and cognitive, affective and behavioural patterns. Research supports this proposition and suggests that in particular a task orientation combined with a mastery motivational climate is associated with desirable

Doping attitudes, goal orientations and motivational climate outcomes, including enjoyment, effort and satisfaction (Cunningham & Xiang, 2008; Kavussanu & Roberts, 1996). A second purpose of the study was to examine team and individual sports athletes’ achievement goals, perceptions of the motivational climate and attitudes to doping to determine whether sport type may serve as protective or risk factor in doping.

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were informed that their anonymity would be guaranteed and that the data would be managed in accordance with the Data Protection Act. To encourage athletes to respond, a prize draw for £100 of vouchers for a sport shop was offered. A reminder email was sent to athletes 2 weeks after the initial invitation encouraging the non-respondents to contribute to the research. After a further 2 weeks, the survey was closed. The response rate for completion of the online questionnaire was approximately 30%.

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Method Participants

Measures

Athletes currently or having recently competed at the national or international level for Scotland (N = 177) participated in the study. They participated in 34 different sports, including curling, hockey, golf, swimming, football and orienteering. Thirty-two per cent of participants indicated that they were full-time athletes. The athletes ranged in age from 13 to 61 (M = 23.29 years, s = 8.27). There was an almost even response from males (46%) and females (54%). Over 9 out of 10 (93%) of the athletes had/or were representing Great Britain or Scotland at international level, with 80% having done so at age group level and 60% having done so at senior level. On average, athletes had represented their country at age group levels for 4.1 years and at senior level for 4.7 years. The participants were predominantly (98.3%) of “white” ethnicity. One-third (33%) of participants had a degree or higher degree, with 63% of those aged 25 or over having completed a degree or higher degree. Of those under 25 years of age, 72% had higher/A-level or degree or higher degree qualifications. The athletes were predominantly from more affluent areas of Scotland. In total, 38% of athletes were from 20% of the most affluent areas in Scotland, with only 4% from the 20% of most deprived areas of Scotland. With regards to sport type, 63% (n = 111) of participants competed in individual sports and 37% (n = 65) competed in team sports.

Demographics. Participants were asked to provide demographic information on their sex, age, working status, level of education, ethnic group and home postcode (from which socio-economic status could be established). Information was gathered on the athletes’ level of involvement in Great Britain or Scottish age group or senior national squads; athletes’ involvement in team and/or individual sport; and whether, and how often, they train with other athletes.

Procedure The research received approval from the authors’ Institution Ethics Committee. An initial draft of the questionnaire was revised following pilot testing with a small number of athletes because it was considered to be too long. The final online survey took approximately 10 min to complete. Approximately 600 athletes were sent an email via sportscotland (national agency for sport in Scotland), national squads and networks requesting their involvement in the online questionnaire and providing them with the web link to the online questionnaire. Potential respondents

Attitudes to PED use. Participants’ attitudes towards drug use in sport were assessed using a modified version of the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS) (Petróczi & Aidman, 2009). The scale is a 17-item unidimensional scale for measuring selfdeclared attitudes towards doping. Six of the original 17 items were not included in the current study. Items were removed if they did not directly assess attitudes to drug use in sport, there was ambiguity in the wording or they were repetitive. In addition, the wording of three items was changed. The item there is no difference between drugs, fiberglass poles and speedy swimsuits that are all used to enhance performance was changed to the wording employed by Moran, Guerin, Kirbym, and MacIntyre (2008) there is no difference between drugs and the technical equipment that can be used to enhance performance (e.g., hypoxic altitude simulating environments). The item recreational drugs help to overcome boredom during training was modified to capture all the time when athletes are away from competition when they are subject to the WADA Code not just during training. The item wording was changed to recreational drugs help to overcome boredom outside of competition. The item athletes are pressured to take performance-enhancing drugs was modified to be more specific to the individual athlete by changing the wording to athletes in my sport are pressured to take performance-enhancing drugs. The 11-item scale was preceded by an explanation of doping in accordance of the WADA Code and examples of recreational drugs. Participants then responded to each item on a six-point Likerttype scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree

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(6). No neutral middle point is offered. Higher scores indicate a more relaxed attitude to doping practices, while lower scores indicate a negative or intolerant attitude towards doping. Evidence of reliability has been demonstrated in previous research with college and elite athletes (Moran et al., 2008; Petróczi & Aidman, 2009). In addition, principal components factor analysis extracting one factor confirmed the scale structure. Factor loadings were between .36 and .72, with the exception of two items which had weak factors loadings (.12 and .05). Closer examination of these two items revealed that one item did not specifically refer to doping, Only the quality of performance should matter, not the way athletes achieve it, therefore it was decided to remove this item. The second item, Doping is an unavoidable part of competition, may have been confusing because it could be interpreted in a general sense such as doping is just a part of modern sport and therefore it is unavoidable which it might be expected that most athletes would agree with. In contrast, the item could be interpreted on a more personal level where athletes consider the extent to which they can avoid doping, in which case the answers maybe more varied. Due to the potential for confusion and the low factor loading, the item was removed from the scale. Therefore, the final PEAS measure contained 9 items and scores could range from 9 to 54 with a theoretical midpoint of 31.5. Achievement goal orientations. The participant’s achievement (task and ego) goal orientations in sport were assessed through the Task and Ego Goal Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (Duda & Nicholls, 1992). In response to the item I feel successful in sport when…, participants indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each of the 13 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The task subscale consists of seven items which focus on success defined through task mastery, learning and effort. A sample item was I learn a new skill and it makes me want to practice more. The ego orientation subscale contains six items which reflect success defined through outperforming others and the demonstration of superior ability. A sample item was I’m the only one who can do the play or skill. This scale has been used extensively in sport research and evidence of validity and reliability has been provided through numerous empirical investigations (see Duda & Whitehead, 1998, for a review). Perceived motivational climate. Participants’ perceptions of the coach-created motivational climate were assessed using an adapted version of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire

(Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2000). For the purpose of this study, the interest was in the high-order factors of coach-created mastery and performance motivational climates. A similar approach has been adopted by Smith and colleagues in youth sport (Smith, Cumming, & Smoll, 2008). In addition, the original scale was developed for use with teams, whereas the participants in the current study competed in team or individual sports, a problem noted in previous research with elite athletes (Moran et al., 2008). Furthermore, the scale was only one of a number of scales included in the questionnaire and it was important to use a relatively brief measure. Therefore, in response to the item In my team/training group the coach…, participants indicated the extent to which their coach emphasised a mastery or performance climate by responding to 12 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (most of the time). The mastery climate subscale contained six items that reflected the coach’s emphasis on improvement, cooperative learning and effort. A sample item was focuses on athletes improving in each competition and training session. The performance climate subscale contained six items that reflected the coach’s emphasis on winning and outperforming others through punishment for mistakes, unequal recognition and fostering interindividual rivalry. A sample item was gets mad when an athlete makes a mistake. Principal components factor analysis with Varimax rotation extracting two factors confirmed the scale structure. Factor loadings were between .38 and .78 on their respective factors, with the exception of one item on the performance climate factor which had weak loading on both factors. This item was removed from the subscale.

Results Preliminary analyses The data obtained through the Bristol Online Surveys website were exported into an SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) data file and analysed using the IBM SPSS version 19 package (Portsmouth, UK). Descriptive statistics (i.e. mean, standard deviation and Pearson’s product–moment correlations) were calculated for all variables (see Table I). Reliability estimates were calculated for all variables using alpha coefficients. Acceptable internal reliability for each of the measures employed was set a priori at .70 (Nunnally, 1978). All variables demonstrated or approached acceptable reliability: task (a = .84) and ego (a = .81) orientation, attitudes to PED use (a = .71), performance motivational climate (a = .69) and mastery motivational climate (a = .68). The motivational climate variables were retained, but related results should be interpreted with a degree of caution.

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Doping attitudes, goal orientations and motivational climate Table I. Descriptive statistics and correlations for all measures. Measure

Attitude

MC

PC

Table II. Regression analysis attitudes of individual and climate motivation variables as predictors of PED use.

Task Ego

Attitude to PED use – Mastery climate (MC) −.32** – Performance climate (PC) .07 −.28** – Task −.34** .22** −.10 – Ego .31** −.17* .05 .10 – Mean 16.00 4.08 2.08 4.25 3.54 s 5.01 0.54 0.63 0.53 0.77 Note: Significant correlation: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.

Variable

Multiple R R2 Beta .52

Step 1 Task Ego Mastery climate Performance climate

P

sr2

.27

F

df

15.81* (4, 171) −.33 .00 .10 .31 .00 .09 −.20 .01 .04 .03 .64 .00

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Note: *P ≤ .01.

Athletes’ attitudes towards drug use in sport scores ranged from 9 (lowest possible score) to 28, and all scores were below the theoretical PEAS mean (31.5). Therefore, athletes’ attitudes towards drug use in sport scores were low, indicating a negative or intolerant attitude towards doping. In relation to the motivational variables, the athletes perceived the coach-created motivational climate to be more mastery than performance focused. In addition, both task and ego goal orientation scores were high, indicating success was defined in relation to effort, learning, improvement and comparative performances.

Main analysis Predicting attitudes. After screening the data to ensure that the assumptions of normality, linearity, multicollinearity and homogeneity of variance were met (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007), moderated hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. This analysis was performed to determine which, if any, of the individual or climate motivation variables predicted attitudes to PED use. The mean total score for attitude to PED use was entered as the dependent variable. Task orientation, ego orientation, mastery climate and performance climate were entered as independent variables in the first step of the model. Two-way interaction terms were entered in the second step (task × ego, task × mastery, task × performance, ego × mastery, ego × performance). Three-way interactions terms were entered in the third step (task × ego × mastery, task × ego × performance). Interaction terms were calculated by multiplying the standardised means of the predictors (Aiken & West, 1991). The F-change statistic associated with the change in variance (R2) was examined to determine whether the addition of interactions terms resulted in a significant change in prediction of attitude to PED use at each step. Semipartial correlations were examined to determine variance attributable to unique sources. The results of the regression analysis are shown in Table II. Step 1 of the regression was significant,

F (4, 171) = 15.81, P < .01 indicating that the motivation variables were significant predictors of attitudes towards PED use. They accounted for 27% of the variance in athletes’ attitudes to PED use. Examination of the beta weights indicated that task orientation, ego orientation and mastery climate were significant predictors of attitudes to PED use. Ego orientation was positively related to PED use attitudes and made a unique contribution (9%) to variance explained in attitude to PED. Task orientation and mastery climate were negatively related to PED use attitudes and made unique contribution to variance explained of 10% and 4%, respectively. The addition of the two- and three-way interaction terms in steps 2 and 3 did not significantly add to the prediction of PED use attitudes. Team versus individual sports differences. The data were also analysed to assess whether being a member of a team or individual athlete provides any protection against doping in sport. Athletes were split into two groups (team or individual) and scores compared on the five measures. The one-way multivariate analysis of variance was significant (Wilks’ lambda = .76, F = 10.89 (5, 170), P < .01), ƞ2 = .24, indicating that there were statistically significant differences between team and individual sport athletes on at least one of the psychological variables (see Table III). Team athletes Table III. Differences between team and individual sport athletes on attitudes towards PED use, perceived motivational climate and goal orientation. Team Individual (N = 65) (N = 111) Attitudes to PED use Task Ego Mastery climate Performance climate Note: *P ≤ .01.

14.39 4.28 3.10 4.23 2.16

16.91 4.23 3.79 3.99 2.03

F

P

ƞ2

11.01* .39 40.06* 8.63* 1.65

.00 .53 .00 .00 .20

.06 .00 .19 .05 .01

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were significantly lower in attitude to PED use and ego orientation scores compared with individual athletes. They were also significantly higher in perceptions of a mastery motivational climate compared with individual athletes. The effect sizes were medium to large for ego orientation (ƞ2 = .19) and small for attitude to PED use (ƞ2 = .06) and mastery climate (ƞ2 = .05).

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Discussion The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among elite athletes’ achievement goal orientations, perceived coach-created motivational climate and attitudes towards PED use in sport. A second purpose was to determine whether sport type (team and individual) may serve as a protective or risk factor in doping. The examination of psychological processes provides insight into the individual and social contextual factors that may be relevant in explaining doping risk. This research provides evidence-based knowledge that can underpin anti-doping education and may be relevant for specific policy formulation such as Article 11 of the WADA Code. Overall the athletes in this study indicated attitudes towards PED use that were reflective of a strong anti-doping stance. Their attitudes scores were low overall and team sport athletes reported lower attitudes compared with individual sport athletes. These findings indicate a general intolerance towards drug use and even more so in team sports. The low attitude scores are consistent with previous research using the PEAS with a range of athletes, including elite samples (Morente-Sánchez, MateoMarch, Zabala, & Taffe, 2013; Petróczi & Aidman, 2009). Attitude to drug use for performance enhancement has been consistently associated with doping intentions and behaviour (Alaranta et al., 2006; Lazuras et al., 2010; Lucidi et al., 2008). Therefore, the low attitude scores of the elite athletes in this study suggest a low propensity to engage in doping behaviours. To extend current understanding of the psychological processes that underpin attitudes and behaviour, AGT (Nicholls, 1989) and its central concepts goal orientations and motivational climate were examined. The athletes reported strong task and ego goal orientations, indicating that they use both individually referenced and other-referenced information in judging their success. This is consistent with research with elite athletes which has demonstrated that they report high task and ego orientations (e.g. Pensgaard & Roberts, 2003). Both goal orientations were predictors of attitudes to PED use. This finding is consistent with recent research. In their study of Polish athletes, SasNowosielski and Swiatkowska (2008) found that an

ego orientation was associated with greater endorsement of doping whereas a task orientation was associated with more favourable attitudes towards antidoping. Barkoukis et al. (2011) also found that taskoriented athletes had lower past drug use and intentions. Another important finding was that individual sport athletes reported higher ego orientations compared with team sport athletes which may place them at greater “risk” due to their greater focus on outperforming others to judge their success. A disposition towards normative success criteria leaves athletes with less control over whether they are judged successful. In an effort to “regain control” and “tip the balance” in their favour, they may be tempted to engage in illegal behaviour such as doping. This finding contrasts with morality research in sport which has shown that individual sport athletes are more likely to indicate the intention to act morally compared with team athletes (e.g. Vallerand, Deshaies, & Cuerrier, 1997). The differences in moral intentions related to sport type were attributed to intragroup influences being stronger in team sports than individual sports. However, as Kavussanu (2007) noted, this influence would depend on the prevailing values of the athletes and coaches in a training group. Kavussanu’s assertion is supported by the present study, where the seemingly contradictory finding may be, in part, explained by the influence of the mastery motivational climate for team sport athletes. The importance of the coach-created motivational climate in doping and anti-doping behaviour has not been examined before. However, the motivational climate has been associated with moral functioning in sport (Kavussanu, 2007). The athletes in the study reported experiencing a mastery rather than performance climate and the mastery climate was a negative predictor of attitudes towards PED use. This finding supports previous research which has identified significant others in the immediate social context such as the coach as important figures in doping and anti-doping behaviour (Johnson, 2011; Lentillon-Kaestner & Carstairs, 2010; Smith et al., 2010). Our study also extends previous research by forwarding a potential explanation for how significant others influence athletes’ doping attitudes and behaviour. Through their actions coaches create a motivational climate that conveys information about what athletes should focus on and how they should define success during their athletic endeavour (Ames, 1992). The strong mastery motivational climate reported in the current study suggests that these athletes are working in an environment that emphasises individually referenced effort, learning and progress. These are aspects that are largely

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Doping attitudes, goal orientations and motivational climate within athletes’ control and may reduce feelings of pressure of the coach, a factor that has been associated with doping behaviour (Johnson, 2011; Lentillon-Kaestner & Carstairs, 2010; Smith et al., 2010). Therefore, a mastery motivational climate may provide some protection from PED use. In addition, team sport athletes perceived a stronger mastery climate compared with individual sport athletes, suggesting that the team may provide some protection from doping. This finding is supported by the findings of research examining morality in sport which demonstrates a positive association between athletes’ perceptions of a mastery motivational climate and morality (e.g. Kavussanu, 2006; Kavussanu & Spray, 2006). The findings that goal orientations and motivational climate are associated with doping attitudes present valuable insight into the processes underpinning attitudes towards doping. However, the study is not without some limitations. First, only attitudes towards PED use and not actual doping behaviour were assessed. Therefore, the research may be subject to social desirability bias. Although challenging, future research might extend AGT concepts to the explanation of doping behaviour and intentions. In addition, given the adaptations made to the measures, further research is warranted examining the validity and reliability of the measures and confirming the relationships among attitudes, goal orientations and motivational climate. Second, the participants were national and international athletes from one country, Scotland. Future research should examine the extent to which these findings are replicated in other countries and levels of participation. Such research may also include examination of the influence of cultural values and other country-specific characteristics in addition to goal orientations and the immediate coaching climate. Third, the participants were volunteers and therefore the findings may reflect only those athletes who have strong, and likely, anti-doping attitudes. Related to this is the limitation of the selfreport nature of this research that might lead to underreporting or socially desirable responses. Online anonymous surveys were used to allow athletes to complete the questions privately and to encourage athletes to respond honestly. Future research should continue to explore ways to engage athletes who may hold pro-doping attitudes or who have doped to determine whether similar psychological processes explain their attitudes and behaviours. Lastly, most research on doping and anti-doping has focused on athletes and their perceptions; to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the issue, researchers might also examine the perceptions of others involved in performance sport such as coaches, governing bodies and support staff.

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Conclusion The findings from this study reinforce the assertion that both individual and situational factors need to be considered to develop a clearer understanding of factors that precipitate drug use in elite sport. This research demonstrates that focusing on individually referenced effort, learning and progress and being in a coach-created motivational climate that reinforces a mastery focus may provide some protection from doping. Consistent with other research with elite athletes, the participants in this study had relatively high ego orientations. This was associated with stronger pro-doping attitudes and therefore may place athletes “at risk”. In this situation, the protective influence of a mastery motivational climate may become even more important. This is supported by the finding that team sport athletes reported more favourable anti-doping attitudes, a more masteryfocused climate and lower ego orientation compared with individual sport athletes, suggesting that being part of a team may afford some protection. Combining these findings suggests that how achievement is defined by both athletes and coaches is potentially important protective factors in relation to doping behaviour in sport but may also place athletes at greater risk. Acknowledgement We are grateful to the athletes who participated and to the members of sportscotland Institute of Sport and Scottish teams who helped facilitate access to the athletes. Funding This study has been funded by the World AntiDoping Agency’s Social Science Research Programme 2011. References Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Alaranta, A., Alaranta, H., Holmila, J., Palmu, P., Pietilä, K., & Helenius, I. (2006). Self-reported attitudes of elite athletes towards doping: Differences between type of sport. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 27, 842–846. Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(3), 261–271. Backhouse, S. H., Atkin, A., McKenna, J., & Robinson, S. (2007). International literature review: Attitudes, behaviours, knowledge and education – Drugs in sport: Past, present and future (Report to the World Anti-Doping Agency). Retrieved from https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/social-science/interna tional-literature-review-attitudes-behaviours-knowledge-and Barkoukis, V., Lazuras, L., Tsorbatzoudis, H., & Rodafinos, A. (2011). Motivational and sportspersonship profiles of elite

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