Anger and Aggression in Contact and Non-Contact Sports

Psychological factors have been identified as important determinants of aggressive behavior in competitive conditions. This study investigated the relations of anger and aggression in a sample of Iranian professional athletes in contact and non-contact sports. A total of 362 volunteer athletes (231 men: 104 contact, 127 non-contact; 131 women: 54 contact, 77 non-contact) completed the Tehran Multidimensional Anger Scale and the Competitive Aggression Questionnaire. Scores on all anger subscales were positively associated with indices of competitive aggression among male and female athletes in both groups of contact and non-contact sports. The results also revealed that “anger-control–in” and “anger-control–out” were negatively associated with indices of competitive aggression in both groups. It was found that in contact sport group, four measures of anger including anger–in, anger–out, anger-control–in, and anger-control–out predicted changes related to indices of aggression in sport competitions...