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In this paper, we describe the Intervention Programme on Psychological Abilities in Refereeing (PIHPA) with the participation of soccer referees from the third division Valencia and Basque Association of Referees. The programme consisted of 8 group sessions, complemented by other individual initiatives, where the following skills were developed: motivation, emotional control, self-confidence, concentration, and communication. The aims were as follows: to familiarize the referees with basic psychological skills, to help them learn how to use them, apply them in their work, and improve on them. In their evaluation of the programme, the referees that took part showed a high degree of overall satisfaction, perceiving the course content to be useful in the long run and acknowledging the need to continue with this type of training in the future. In the paper, a discussion is made of the most relevant contributions and the difficulties that were encountered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment analysed the effect that deliberative thinking involved in the processing of relevant information had on the conviction of the participants in their doping-related attitudes. Participants were football coaches who received a written proposal (i.e., a persuasive message) against (or in favour of) the legalization of several banned substances and doping behaviours. Moreover, the extent of deliberative thinking (i.e., the elaboration likelihood, high vs. low) was manipulated between participants. Finally, attitudes towards legalization and conviction in those attitudes were assessed as dependent variables. As predicted, results showed attitudes were only affected by the direction of the message (η² = .064). Therefore, coaches who received the message against legalisation showed attitudes which were less favourable than coaches who received the message in favour of legalization. However, as expected, conviction was only in relation to elaboration likelihood (η² = .050). Thus, coaches with a high elaboration likelihood showed more conviction in their attitudes than coaches with a low elaboration likelihood. In this paper, we discuss the importance of conviction in the understanding and the prediction of the impact of attitudes on subsequent thinking and behaviour with respect to doping in coaches and athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the interrelations among coping strategies, dispositional optimism and wellbeing in a sample of 61 football players of two nationalities, Polish and Spanish players, in order to identify cultural differences. The Spanish players achieved significantly higher scores than the Poles in the use of emotion-related coping strategies (F = 12.919; p =.001), with the obtainment of a relevant effect size (> .130) and high power (.942). In addition, the Polish players were found to be significantly more optimistic than the Spanish (F = 5.296; p = .025). The results are discussed in connection with theoretical optimism models (Scheier and Carver, 1985) and coping strategies (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), highlighting the role of cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the subjective perception of the importance of five dimensions related to fair play in a large sample of young sportspeople (children and youth players) (N = 762). Dimensions were identified through a content analysis based on the European Union Code of Sports Ethics. Five dimensions were defined: having fun, following the rules, being committed, winning and fair play. Following a Thurstonian pair comparison design, a questionnaire was constructed and ipsative data were analysed. The least valued dimension was related to winning the game. The most important dimension differed for boys and girls: girls considered it more important to play fair, whereas for boys the priority was to have fun. No differences were found between commitment and respect for the rules in the male group, although the difference between these dimensions was more pronounced among girls. The ranking of the subjective dimensions and distances between them were not equivalent for boys and girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the beliefs and attitudes towards a trainee PE teacher with a motor disability a. Interviews and a questionnaire were used in a qualitative case study. The results show a positive attitude by the students towards the disabled trainee's teaching. However, half of the students believed that his disability is a handicap in teaching physical activities, especially when presenting exercises. Only two students admitted that their beliefs and attitudes towards his teaching had changed in a positive way after the practicum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]