Situation criticality and basketball officials’ stress levels

Abstract

Officials are expected to perform impeccably despite the wide range of stressors they experience. A stressor that officials frequently report is situation criticality. Situation criticality is comprised of score differential (i.e., more pressure in close games) and time remaining in a game (i.e., more pressure as time expires), which affects athletes' stress levels. The present study explored the effect of situation criticality on officials' stress levels. High school basketball officials (n = 108) with an average of 18.1 (SD = 11.2) years of officiating experience were given a survey packet containing game situations that varied in criticality. For each game situation (n = 9) officials completed the overall stress and appraisal portions of the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM). Results revealed that situation criticality has an effect on officials' perceived stress levels. Both threat and challenge appraisals were positively correlated with perceived stress. Overall, these findings indicate that officials' stress levels fluctuate within games depending on score differential and time of game. The findings encourage officials to recognise and manage their stress, possibly through their appraisals. Additionally, the findings can affect the training of officials in the management of stress, as well as prompt the consideration of potential rule changes that reflect the increased situational demands on officials in critical situations (e.g., expanded instant replay).

Systematic review of basketball referees’ performances

“…According to the researchers analysed, the figure 5 3 near here*** et al, 2018), focused basically on the variables associated with stress. Some of the studies created tools that measure stress (De Almeida et al, 2018;Anshel 1995;Stewart et al, 2004;Jaenes et al, 2012;Anshel et al, 2013;Anshel et al, 2014), others observed stress using these tools in competitive situations Ritchie et al, 2016) or with the visualization of different stressful moves using a monitor (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995;Kaissidis-Rodafinos et al, 1997;Kaissidis-Rodafinos & Anshel, 2000). Moreover, these studies analyze the differences among referees, with regard to gender, with women being more affected , to the referee's level, with the novice referees recording the most stress (Kaissidis-Rodafinos & Anshel, 1993;Anshel & Weinberg, 1995;Ritchie et al, 2016) or the referee's nationality: Turkish (Anshel et al, 2014), Greek (Kaissidis-Rodafinos & Anshel, 2000, American and Australian (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995) and Greek and Australian (Kaissidis-Rodafinos et al, 1998).…”

“…Some of the studies created tools that measure stress (De Almeida et al, 2018;Anshel 1995;Stewart et al, 2004;Jaenes et al, 2012;Anshel et al, 2013;Anshel et al, 2014), others observed stress using these tools in competitive situations Ritchie et al, 2016) or with the visualization of different stressful moves using a monitor (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995;Kaissidis-Rodafinos et al, 1997;Kaissidis-Rodafinos & Anshel, 2000). Moreover, these studies analyze the differences among referees, with regard to gender, with women being more affected , to the referee's level, with the novice referees recording the most stress (Kaissidis-Rodafinos & Anshel, 1993;Anshel & Weinberg, 1995;Ritchie et al, 2016) or the referee's nationality: Turkish (Anshel et al, 2014), Greek (Kaissidis-Rodafinos & Anshel, 2000, American and Australian (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995) and Greek and Australian (Kaissidis-Rodafinos et al, 1998). The most stressful situations for the referees in these studies were: when the referee instructor was present at the game, when there were mistakes in the officiating mechanics, when a foul has been erroneously called, when there was an injury, when there were protests by the players or coaches, and lastly, when the instant replay was used.…”

“…Similarly, this type of variables is influenced by the characteristics of the players and teams, as well as the correctness or not of the decision-making which may trigger conflictive situations. If we consider the level of the referees in these studies we find research exclusively focused on national referees (Jaenes et al, 2012) and those in training Ritchie et al, 2016) and in other cases, comparing their level (international, national and in training) (Arbinaga et al, 2019;De Almeida et al, 2018) and even different nationalities (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995). This is an interesting aspect, as it can be observed that the novice referees present higher values in stressful situations (Ritchie et al, 2016), as they are not so used to living with their mistakes (McMahon & Mildenhall, 2012), neither to endure the different protests that can arise.…”

Estresse fisiológico do arbitro de basquetebol: Revisão sistemática

“…Portanto, escolhas "são feitas sob pressão, onde o ruído de uma multidão excitada poderia exercer e criar uma" vantagem em casa ", o que poderia influenciar as decisões do árbitro e, portanto, o resultado do jogo" [34]. Estudos recentes sugerem que os níveis de alcance das vítimas flutuam nos jogos, dependendo do diferencial de pontuação e do tempo de jogo (ou seja, mais pressão à medida que o tempo expira) [41]. Além disso, a análise das chamadas dos árbitros em 250 desses incidentes, tirada de uma temporada inteira da Superliga de Basquetebol de Israel, concluiu que a reputação dos jogadores e das equipas, a questão das equipas em casa e fora de casa e os jogadores 'tamanho físico não afetou significativamente a frequência de chamadas para uma falta ofensiva [42].…”

Arbitragem da bocha paralímpica

“…Estudos internacionais centrados em árbitros esportivos evidenciam os fatores emocionais na atividade de arbitrar (FRIESEN;DEVONPORT;LANE, 2017); os aspectos de tomada de decisão (HANCOCK; STE-MARIE, 2014); o impacto da torcida na atuação do árbitro (MYERS; BALMER, 2012); os níveis de stress (RITCHIE et al, 2017); a eficácia (GUILLÉN; FELTZ, 2011;DIOTAIUTI et al, 2017); a expectativa dos atletas em relação à competência dos árbitros (DOSSEVILLE; LABORDE; BERNIER, 2014); os perfis de atividade física (PEARCE et al, 2017;AHMED;DAVISON;DIXON, 2017;BESTER et al, 2019); e a relação da altura como fator determinante na autoridade em sua atuação (STULP et al, 2012).…”