The role of achievement goals and moral disengagement in explaining moral attitudes and behaviours in sport

The aim of the present study is to test, in a sample of young athletes, a model linking task and ego orientation, moral disengagement, self-reported cheating behaviours through the mediation of the moral attitudes (e.g. attitudes toward sportspersonship, cheating, gamesmanship). Four-hundred and nine young Italian athletes (69.3% male; M age = 19.16 years, SD = 3.04) practicing individual (33%) and team sport (67%) filled out validated measures of achievement goals (i.e. task and ego orientation), moral disengagement, moral attitudes and self-reported past cheating behaviour. The results of a Variance Based-SEM showed that task and ego orientation influence both prosocial and antisocial attitudes. Moral disengagement resulted to positively predict attitudes toward antisocial behaviours such as cheating and gamesmanship, and negatively predict prosocial attitudes. Finally, both prosocial and antisocial attitudes resulted significantly related to self-reported past cheating behaviours.