The Attitudes and Beliefs of Deception in the Coach-Player Relationship

From a young age, humans learn how to deceive (Polak & Harris, 1999). Humans lie for a variety of reasons (Agosta, Pezzoli, & Sartori, 2013). In the sport world, there are unwritten and written rules. If an athlete performs a juke, fake, misdirection or screen opposing another athlete, the team is not upset, the crowd does not grow angry, and no moral boundaries are crossed because these deceptions are expected. Deception between the coach and the player may be less expected. This study incorporates the use of the Leadership Scale for Sports, the Athlete's Attitudes Toward Coach’s Deception Measure, and Perception of Performance questions to gauge athletes’ attitudes against coaches who deceive them, and if it effects the athlete’s perception of their own performance. This study found that athletes hold negative views of coaches who have deceived them, and perceive their own performance as worse when coaches deceive them