Effects of personal and social responsibility on fair play in sports and self‐control in school‐aged youths

In this study, we examined the impact of Hellison's (1995) model for the development of personal and social responsibility on fair play and self‐control in youth. One hundred and eighty‐six students from three public schools with a mean age of 13.6 years were assigned to one of three treatment groups: experimental group A ( n =63), experimental group B ( n =62), and a control group ( n =61). During 10 one‐hour sessions of beginners’ five‐a‐side soccer, group A went through five levels of the programme, whereas group B went through only four levels as the transferral phase was not introduced. Findings revealed that subsequent to the intervention programme, group A improved personal feedback, delayed gratification, self‐control, and process self‐regulation. Groups A and B showed an improvement in indicators of personal and social responsibility regarding enjoyment and sportsmanship and a decrease in variables related to the drive to win, rough play, contact fouls, and poor sportsmanship. No significant changes were observed in the control group.