Exploring the social image of anabolic steroids users through motivation, sportspersonship orientations and aggression

The authors explored social perceptions related to the use of anabolic steroids (AS) in sports. More specifically, 78 women and 102 men read one of two scenarios depicting a male athlete facing either a drug use or non-drug use situation. Then, participants reported their perceptions of the scenario protagonist in terms of self-determined sport motivation, sportspersonship orientations, and athletic aggression. Results of a multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that, in comparison with a non-using protagonist, the AS-using athlete was regarded as less self-determined in one's motivation (i.e., sport participation based on predominant feelings of pressure to obtain external rewards or avoid punishment) and as displaying weaker sportspersonship orientations (i.e., lesser concerns for opponents, the social conventions of sport, and for one's own athletic commitment). In addition, the AS-using athlete was perceived as resorting more readily to reactive aggression than to instrumental aggression (i.e., intent to injure one's opponent vs merely hinder his performance). Finally, the analyses did not disclose significant gender or interaction effects. The findings are discussed in view of theoretical and practical implications.