Inter-individual differences in sport refereeing: A review of theory and practice

Avugos, Simcha; MacMahon, Clare; Bar‐Eli, Michael; Raab, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.101926

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Communication skills are consistently linked to effective officiating performance, although this review found no explicit training intervention aimed to improve communication competencies, interactions with players, and other game management education. Individual differences in communication capacities weigh on sport official evaluation, selection, and development, 93 and sometimes improving these skills are said to happen through more implicit processes 38,40 . Effective body language and decision communication techniques such as [rule] explanation giving, 38,94 and higher‐order interactive skills such as active listening, 8,95 social monitoring skills, 17,96 and conflict management style 33 or behavioral management 97 are identified areas for development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training and development in sport officials: A systematic review

Cunningham

Mergler

Wattie

2022

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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Sport officials make significant contributions to organized sport, yet scientific evidence to inform their specialized training and education at various levels has lagged. While psychological and performance demands of expert sport officials have been well documented, the extent of research about talent and expertise development, training efficacy, and broader developmental trajectories is unclear. This systematic review summarizes 30 years of published findings on the study of training and development of sport officials, including areas of research interest, study designs, and sport official characteristics. A PRISMA systematic review was conducted, utilizing three scientific databases (Web of Science, SportsDiscus, PsycInfo) to identify relevant studies (N = 27). Female participants were generally underrepresented in studies (17%), while football officials were most often represented (79%). Training intervention (59%), retrospective (37%), and cross‐sectional comparison (22%) were the main study designs. Expert and near‐expert sport officials' training histories and responses to empirically driven isolated‐skills training represented the predominant areas of study. Sport‐specific, video‐based infraction detection tasks were the most frequently used training methods to improve perceptual‐cognitive skills for on‐field decision‐making, however, studies lacked retention measures to on‐field performance. Psychological skills training programs were found to have mixed effects and used varied criteria for measuring training efficacy. Physical training showed mainly significant effects on physiological measures and aging influences for on‐field performance. More rigorous sport‐specific evidence, assessments of training transfer, program efficacy, and macro‐developmental trajectory and milestone data are needed to inform training programs and developmental plans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training and development in sport officials: A systematic review

Cunningham

Mergler

Wattie

2022

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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“…It was also considered that psychological stress happens as a result of the individual's failure to adapt to the demands imposed on most cases, and this makes an individual more vulnerable to psychological, physical, and cognitive problems. Nevertheless, individual differences are important for referee selection, development, and performance evaluation (Avugos et al, 2021). Individual differences in personality are related to job performance in sports, especially with regard to coping with pressure and stress.…”

Section: Psychological Stress Among Athletesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stressors and coping style among volleyball referees in the Northern Border region

Alsentali¹

2022

Int. j. adv. appl. sci.

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The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of sports stressors and coping strategies among volleyball referees during match management. Although psychological stressors are inherited in the sports arena, research in controlling or limiting stressors among athletes in multiple sports settings are rapidly growing field of sports literature. However, stressors faced by volleyball referees have received less attention from researchers. This study attempts to develop a framework for identifying the most stressful situations experienced by volleyball referees during matches. Participants were a straightforward sample consisting of 18 volleyball male referees registered in the Saudi Volleyball Federation at the Northern Border region. A Stressors of Volleyball Referee Survey (SVRS) was designed and applied, which consisted of five dimensions based on sources of stress: players, coaches, spectators, mass media, and officiating-technical pressure; these dimensions contain a total of 38 items presented. Results found that all the main and sub-dimensions items for SVRS correlation coefficients ranged between 0.639 and 0.798, which were statistically significant at the level of stability of 0.01. Data revealed that the dimension of officiating-technical pressure ranked as the highest psychological stressor of the total scale's dimensions with an average of 19.78, whereas the lowest ranking score of the total scale's dimensions was the coaches' pressure dimension with an average of 19.56. The study recommended that future studies should apply an intervention program that trains volleyball referees to gain confidence and maintain resilience in order to cope with all stressors faced during matches.

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“…Football referees must be able to make correct decisions under high time pressure (Plessner, Schweizer, Brand, & O'Hare, 2009). The time pressure forces the referees to pick up information from their environment and adjust their viewing distance and viewing angle based on the current situation (Avugos, MacMahon, Bar-Eli, & Raab, 2021;Hossner, Schnyder, Schmid, & Kredel, 2019;Mann, Farrow, Shuttleworth, Hopwood, & MacMahon, 2009). To date, no studies have tested the effect of different viewing perspectives and viewing distance for the same decision-making situations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Das war ein Foul! Wie Blickwinkel, Betrachtungsdistanzen und Visualisierungsmethoden die Entscheidungen von Fußballschiedsrichtern beeinflussen

Vater,

Schnyder,

Müller

2024

Ger J Exerc Sport Res

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A football referee must choose the right position on the field in order to perceive a foul accurately. In previous research, decision-making for foul calls was compared across different situations within a match or even across different matches, which questions the comparability of decisions that often depend on the situational context. In this study, we experimentally controlled this situational context to investigate the effect of viewing distance and viewing angle on referees’ decision-making. We recreated real-life decision-making situations using markerless tracking devices and virtual reality (VR) animation processes to render first-person situations. We compared the decision-making accuracy of ten experienced football referees when judging situations from three different viewing angles and distances. Furthermore, we compared their decision-making accuracy in VR scenes with accuracy when viewing the same scenes from a bird’s eye and slow-motion perspective, i.e., with the perspectives used in official referee training. We found that decision accuracy is not affected by viewing angles and distances, but that the referee’s decision certainty is lower when viewing the foul situation from a greater distance. The visualization of the situations had an impact on the referee’s decision-making but only for detecting a simulation (i.e., a player acts like they have been fouled). Slow-motion scenes led to higher decision-making accuracy than VR scenes. Our study suggests a way to recreate VR situations for experimental studies, allowing researchers to control the context of each situation. Our findings help to disentangle the mixed findings of previous studies on distance and viewing angle effects on decision accuracies. Finally, we propose potential avenues to improve VR animation processes in future studies.

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Inter-individual differences in sport refereeing: A review of theory and practice

Cited by 15 publications

References 100 publications

Training and development in sport officials: A systematic review

Training and development in sport officials: A systematic review

Stressors and coping style among volleyball referees in the Northern Border region

Das war ein Foul! Wie Blickwinkel, Betrachtungsdistanzen und Visualisierungsmethoden die Entscheidungen von Fußballschiedsrichtern beeinflussen

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