Sources of stress, burnout and intention to terminate among rugby union referees

Abstract

We examined sources of stress, burnout and intention to terminate among rugby union referees. Questionnaires were returned by 682 of 1175 referees (58%) from Wales, Scotland and England. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed four correlated sources of stress factors (performance concerns, time pressure, interpersonal conflict and fear of physical harm), which accounted for 49.6% of the variance. Referees believed the first three factors to be mildly related to their stress. They believed fear of physical harm to be unrelated to their stress. A structural model hypothesizing that time pressure and interpersonal conflict predict burnout, and that age and burnout predict intention to terminate refereeing, fit the observed data. The goodness-of-fit index for this model was 0.96. Our results and those of other studies indicate that interpersonal conflict and time pressure are common sources of stress for sport officials and are frequently related to their burnout experiences. Also, age and burnout are frequently, although only marginally, related to intention to terminate.

The Experience of Former Women Officials and the Impact on the Sporting Community

“…Such research will advance understanding of key issues regarding mistreatment of women in the workplace. To date, though, the majority of the research in the officiating context has examined only male officials (e.g., Kellett and Warner 2011;Rainey 1999). As the global shortage of officials persists (e.g., American Sport Education Program 2011; Kendall et al 2009), the survival of sports remains dependent upon strategies to recruit and retain officials (Titlebaum et al 2009;Warner et al 2013).…”

“…Researchers have established that officials endure abuse from players, coaches, and spectators (Chiafullo 1998;Rainey 1999). As a result, the environment can lead to stress, burnout, and conflict (Anshel and Weinberg 1995;Rainey and Hardy 1997).…”

“…One of the largest series of studies included 782 baseball and softball umpires in the U.S., of which only 19 were female (Rainey 1994(Rainey , 1995. Rainey did not analyze the responses of these 19 women separately and the issue of gender was not considered.…”

“…umpire or referee). Some female officials have made remarkable progress in overcoming barriers and advancing gender equity in a male-dominated sport occupation (Rainey 1995).…”

Les interactions joueurs-arbitres au cours d’un match de football : comprendre les altercations ou leur absence

“…Science & Motricité,72,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33] d'y faire face en fonction de différentes variables (l'âge, l'expérience, l'optimisme/ pessimisme de l'arbitre…). En effet, des nombreuses recherches montrent que quel que soit le sport, un des facteurs essentiels de stress chez l'arbitre est rapporté à la peur d'être agressé verbalement ou physiquement et/ou à la crainte d'un conflit avec les joueurs (Goldsmith & Williams, 1992;Kaissidis-Rodafinos, Anshel, & Sideridis, 1998;Rainey & Hardy, 1999a, 1999b. Il s'agit aussi de questionner ce qui est vécu comme une agression par les arbitres, notamment en fonction de leur expérience (Phillips, 1985), et ce à quoi ils attribuent la survenue d'un tel comportement chez un joueur par exemple (Fritman, Nyberg, & Norlander, 2004;Simmons, 2006).…”