Aggression and sport: A cross-sectional study on behavioral tendencies of athletes

This cross-sectional study aimed to measure aggression in a more heterogeneous population of athletes, with the purpose of determining whether some specific conditions are related to aggressive behaviour. Athletes of 18–64 years old were enrolled in the study. The Italian version of Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) was self-administered. A total of 390 questionnaires were collected. Males showed higher levels of physical aggression (19.58 ± 6.32) than females (15.69 ± 6.65), p < 0.001 and a significant reduction in all domains of the questionnaire with advancing age, except for physical aggression. Furthermore, subjects who practiced full contact sports showed higher levels of physical aggression (20.23 ± 6.68) than those who practiced partial contact (17.89 ± 5.86) or non-contact sports (17.19 ± 6.64) p < 0.006. Finally, those who have played competitively in the past showed lower levels of anger (14.95 ± 5.22) than those who have played amateurishly (16.05 ± 5.54), p < 0.05. Age and gender appeared to be significant in aggression scores. Martial artists and combat sports players showed significantly higher levels of physical aggression than those who practice partial contact or non-contact sports. The type of sport (individual or team players), the practice time (beginners or experts) and the current level of sport (amateurs or competitive players) did not affect the aggression scores. Instead, the past level of sport participation is correlated with current anger.