ABSTRACT
Morality is seen as having a central role to play in the psychology of doping in sport. This core assumption is central to some psychological models of athlete doping (e.g., Sports Drug Control Model; Donovan et al. 2002). Empirically, there is variability in morality being nominated as a factor influencing the decision to dope in qualitative research by athletes and athlete support personnel (such as coaches, medical practitioners, and trainers), with morality being nominated as a key variable in some studies (e.g., Kirby et al. 2011) and absent from others (e.g., Mazanov and Huybers 2010). This suggests that a deeper understanding of the role of morality in the psychology of doping in sport is needed. A key challenge facing research on the role of morality in the psychology of doping in sport is effectively operationalizing morality. This chapter explores operationalizing morality to better understand its role in the psychology of doping in sport using the World Anti-Doping Code’s (the Code) Spirit of Sport statement (WADA 2015: 14).
