Level of Aggression and Behaviours Against Regulations Among Water Polo Players

<ns3:p>Introduction: Water polo, also known in Poland as ‘waterball’ [transl. of Polish ‘piłka wodna’], is a team sport playedmost often in a swimming pool and using a ball. It is a contact discipline, which is why it is associated with aggres-sive behaviours. These behaviours are the result of specific rules of the game, the degree of contact, which affectthe athletes’ level of aggression among (Joseph & Rosario, 2024), the competition itself and the desire to win.Study aim: Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the level of aggressiveness (in the context of aggres-sion occurring as a variable of personality), to establish its relationship with aggressive behaviours occurring dur-ing a water polo match, and to establish what aggressive behaviours are most strongly presented by players dur-ing the game.Methods and Design: In this study, 50 men were examined — players from a dozen or so existing clubs in Po-land and from the national team of this discipline. A self-constructed questionnaire was used, containing a list of17 actions that are inconsistent with the rules, which, according to the players, occur most often and result in ex-clusion. The second of the implemented methods was the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, which allows fordetermining the level of aggressive behaviour in non-sporting situations: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression,Anger and Hostility.Results: The results showed that the highest average scores were obtained by the subjects for “pulling opponentby hand/leg”, “pushing off from opponent with leg/arm/hand while swimming side-by-side” and “grabbing oppo-nent by shorts”. The lowest average values were for: “grabbing opponent by crotch”, “holding opponent by neck”and “punching opponent in head/face”. All types of general aggression were positively correlated with the follow-ing aggressive behaviours during the game: “splashing opponent in face with water”, “pulling opponent by capstrings”, “punching opponent in head/face with”, “holding opponent (in clinch)”, “grabbing opponent by head”,“scratching/pinching opponent” “dunking opponent” and “twisting opponent’s arm”.</ns3:p>