Introduction
Moral disengagement in sports is a common phenomenon that protects ethical self-condemnation. During the application of this rule, a person suspends the operation of moral principles and standards to avoid feeling his moral foundations. Thus, athletes can break the rules without experiencing any moral anguish. In this regard, there is a problem of violating ethical principles in competitions or any competitive events. In this regard, the problem of moral exclusion in sports is relevant and significant for research.
A Concern for the Researchers
The first reason for moral disengagement is honesty and the rules set in different sports. The process under consideration can significantly undermine the sport’s reliability, integrity, and standards. Through moral disengagement, athletes can become immune to ethical vacillation, freeing them to break norms and standards (Shields et al., 2015).
Thus, cheating, violent behavior, and doping can become a standard practice for many people. This contradicts the fundamental principles that must be observed in sports for equality to be possible (Shields et al., 2015). Another reason for concern about this process is that many athletes are role models. If these people lead an obscene and reprehensible lifestyle, many people susceptible to perceiving them as role models may adopt negative behavior patterns. Over time, such behavior can merge into the culture of human behavior, which will seriously threaten the observance of public ethics.
Considerations regarding the wrongfulness of moral disengagement may also apply to sportsmanship and skill. If critical athletes violate necessary ethical standards without fear, they will get used to it, and the meaning of competitive events will be lost (Shields et al., 2015). Such a course of events can reduce the quality of the competition and cause irreparable damage to the reputation of any sport. In turn, this will lead to lasting psychological consequences for many who have high hopes of finding a permanent and long-term career. A public decline in the trust and credibility of sports can harm society as people stop improving their health through exercise and self-improvement.
Higher Scores in Moral Development
The study results showed that men’s moral development level is higher because they are more likely to participate in cognitive processes. Thus, they are more susceptible to moral doubts about their decisions. Such a case has a negative consequence, as such processes may distance them from ethical issues (Shields et al., 2015). This may justify distancing oneself from ethical issues. Thus, although men are more likely to rationalize and justify their actions, this mechanism can violate moral principles since the moral division between the sexes causes gender to become an important variable.
The study focuses on the fact that men prefer to achieve the best results in the context of sports competition. Moral development is a complex process that can be rationalized to understand the extent to which moral distancing is possible. This cognitive process can lead people to emphasize the difference between what men and women do (Shields et al., 2015). Gender divisions are more pronounced in the context of the cognitive processes that go along with making decisions about violating the principles of competitive sports to achieve better results.
Moral Attentiveness
Moral attentiveness refers to the notion that a person is constantly aware of and considers their moral decisions and choices throughout life. In addition, this characteristic helps to consider the experience of moral interactions in a person’s experience, which guarantees them an improved understanding of morality and self-improvement based on the decisions made and the mistakes made.
By paying attention to the moral elements in an individual’s experience, they can more carefully and holistically consider the various situations they have been involved (Shields et al., 2015). This category involves perceptual moral mindfulness, which ensures the automatic perception of moral elements in actions. In sports, moral awareness can predict moral disengagement to draw a person’s attention to negative actions.
The assumption of a high level of moral mindfulness that affects disengagement negatively may be based on the fact that the latter category does not require much thought. It tends to occur automatically and not depend on the general moral views of the individual. Thus, when moral attentiveness is present in a person, developing harmful deeds becomes more difficult since their cultivation requires ignoring ethical norms for their subsequent violation.
Thus, increased moral attention can stop attempts to violate any standards since people will pay attention to all actions and their consequences by comprehensively evaluating them (Shields et al., 2015). Such people are more sensitive to the moral aspects of various situations and can actively reflect on the experience and determine its negative and positive consequences. Increased morality becomes an obstacle for them to break codes and rules, and thus, it becomes more difficult for them to justify unethical actions.
The mechanism of moral disengagement often involves cognitive mechanisms that are aimed at silencing the guilt of an individual by justifying any of their ethically wrong actions. Thus, it can minimize self-doubt and calm one’s emotional state. Moral disengagement aims to reassure oneself of minimal harm and that the action was justified by the situation (Shields et al., 2015).
However, with a high level of moral attentiveness, the person will evaluate the situation more critically, which can lead to understanding the wrongness of specific actions. This characteristic is fundamental in sports as it can prevent moral harm to other people. Deep ethical considerations can prompt a person to rethink planned actions and change them when they are contrary to internal principles or generally accepted norms of behavior.
Empathy and Moral Development
Empathy may be closely related to moral development, as this ability allows people to feel compassion for others. It, in turn, affects many actions a person can take after understanding another individual. However, despite this, Shields et al. (2015) did not find that empathy could predict moral disengagement in their study. This discovery may allow us to consider empathy as a more multifaceted construct that includes and combines cognitive and affective connections. Empathy can be used to motivate people to take specific actions to improve the well-being of others. However, it cannot directly influence what ethical standards a person will fulfill about himself. Acceptance and understanding of the emotions and experiences of other people do not guarantee that a person will treat himself with the same attitude.
Empathy as an evaluation factor may partially affect the emotional aspects of decision-making. However, the cognitive biases associated with justifying unethical actions cannot be corrected with empathy. The predictive power of empathy can be affected by varying individual settings, variables, and situational factors.
In a study by Shields et al. (2015), many variables, such as gender, moral identity, and moral mindfulness, were included and considered. Such a set of variables, with different combinations, could unpredictably affect an individual’s choices in the presence of empathy. At the same time, the study’s results differed from those expected since no relationship between empathy and the development of moral behavior was found (Shields et al., 2015). It follows from this that moral disengagement can be developed in people who, in everyday life, empathize and help people.
Critical Analysis
The study of moral disengagement predicates is necessary to understand how various other factors can influence this parameter fully. The contextual limitations of the study of intercollegiate athletes impose certain sampling limitations that may affect the overall results. Thus, researchers Robertson & Constant (2021) indicate that moral disengagement can manifest itself with a large variability of cases that depend little on variables. Situational factors play a more significant role in this process than any general characteristics of individuals. In this regard, it can be said that moral disengagement can manifest itself in sports as a consequence of unsuccessful or traumatic experiences that have influenced people’s perception of their motives.
Conclusion
Moral disengagement is a significant issue that affects many athletes who are subject to doubt when making confident career choices. However, this factor can hurt the entire industry, as the unethical actions of athletes can be reflected in other people who are inspired by their images. Thus, moral qualities are essential for individuals as they can prevent bad decisions from being made. Cognitive processes of withdrawal from actions can lead to undesirable consequences that will affect the well-being of people in the future.
References
Robertson, J., & Constandt, B. (2021). Moral disengagement and sport integrity: Identifying and mitigating integrity breaches in sport management. European Sport Management Quarterly, 21(5), 714-730. Web.
Shields, D.L., Funk, C.D. & Bredemeier, B.L. (2015). Predictors of moral disengagement in sport. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 37 (6), 646-658. Web.
