The Role of Emotional Regulation in Refereeing Performance: The Case of Basketball

Background. Emotion regulation refers to how individuals manage the experience and expression of their emotions. It is an integral part of sports training, allowing the maximum potential to be realised. Objectives. This study aimed to examine the relationship between basketball referees’ emotion regulation skills and their refereeing performances, along with certain demographic variables. Materials and methods. The study focused on a comprehensive analysis using a relational screening model. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling method, resulting in a sample of 59 Class-B referees. Class B referees are elite referees. These referees officiate matches in the Women’s Super League and Men’s 1st League. Among these, females accounted for 10.2% (n=6), while males comprised 89.8% (n=53) of the sample. The participants had a mean age of 31 and an average refereeing experience of 12 years. During the 2022-2023 season, the referees officiated in a range of 12 to 43 matches, with an average of 26 matches per official. Data was collected using a personal information form and the Referee Emotion Regulation Scale (RERS) developed by Karaçam et al. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 25. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to examine the relationships between variables, with a significance level set at p <.05. Results. The findings showed significant positive correlations between referee performance and total emotional regulation score (r = .63, p < .01), cognitive reappraisal (r = .67, p < .01), and suppression (r = .35, p < .01). Conclusions. The results of this study emphasize the importance of emotional regulation, refereeing experience, and match exposure in enhancing performance. These findings highlight the critical role of emotional regulation and experience in optimizing performance of basketball referees, and support the inclusion of psychological skills training, particularly emotional competence development, in referee education programs.