Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees
An attacking basketball player initiating significant physical contact with a defender who has already established a legal and stationary position, should be called with an offensive foul. Offensive foul situations are particularly ambiguous and complex, making the referee’s task a difficult one. In...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-12-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02637/full |
| _version_ | 1811326108050653184 |
|---|---|
| author | Elia Morgulev Elia Morgulev Ofer H. Azar Ofer H. Azar Ronnie Lidor Eran Sabag Michael Bar-Eli Michael Bar-Eli |
| author_facet | Elia Morgulev Elia Morgulev Ofer H. Azar Ofer H. Azar Ronnie Lidor Eran Sabag Michael Bar-Eli Michael Bar-Eli |
| author_sort | Elia Morgulev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An attacking basketball player initiating significant physical contact with a defender who has already established a legal and stationary position, should be called with an offensive foul. Offensive foul situations are particularly ambiguous and complex, making the referee’s task a difficult one. In such conditions of complexity and constraints of time, the referee is likely to be prone to systematic biases, as has been documented by previous research in other sport settings. We analyzed the referees’ decisions in 250 instances of collisions between an attacking player and a defender. In these collisions the defender fell, and potentially an offensive foul could be called. We found no evidence of favoritism granted to the home team, to star players, or to high-reputation teams, or of small players being tackled by significantly larger opponents. The findings suggest that these biases are not very robust, and are sensitive to the context, and that proper training of referees and enhanced awareness can help to alleviate referees’ biases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:44:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df9403119a1841239584ba6e7965ffd5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:44:42Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-df9403119a1841239584ba6e7965ffd52022-12-22T02:42:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-12-01910.3389/fpsyg.2018.02637379874Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball RefereesElia Morgulev0Elia Morgulev1Ofer H. Azar2Ofer H. Azar3Ronnie Lidor4Eran Sabag5Michael Bar-Eli6Michael Bar-Eli7The Academic College at Wingate, Wingate Institute, Netanya, IsraelKaye Academic College of Education, Beer-Sheva, IsraelDepartment of Business Administration, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, IsraelLaboratory of Economic Behavior of the Center of Psycho-Economic Research, Povolzhsky Institute of Management named after P.A. Stolypin, RANEPA, Saratov, RussiaThe Academic College at Wingate, Wingate Institute, Netanya, IsraelThe Academic College at Wingate, Wingate Institute, Netanya, IsraelThe Academic College at Wingate, Wingate Institute, Netanya, IsraelDepartment of Business Administration, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, IsraelAn attacking basketball player initiating significant physical contact with a defender who has already established a legal and stationary position, should be called with an offensive foul. Offensive foul situations are particularly ambiguous and complex, making the referee’s task a difficult one. In such conditions of complexity and constraints of time, the referee is likely to be prone to systematic biases, as has been documented by previous research in other sport settings. We analyzed the referees’ decisions in 250 instances of collisions between an attacking player and a defender. In these collisions the defender fell, and potentially an offensive foul could be called. We found no evidence of favoritism granted to the home team, to star players, or to high-reputation teams, or of small players being tackled by significantly larger opponents. The findings suggest that these biases are not very robust, and are sensitive to the context, and that proper training of referees and enhanced awareness can help to alleviate referees’ biases.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02637/fullbiasesjudgmentdecision makingsport refereesbasketball |
| spellingShingle | Elia Morgulev Elia Morgulev Ofer H. Azar Ofer H. Azar Ronnie Lidor Eran Sabag Michael Bar-Eli Michael Bar-Eli Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees Frontiers in Psychology biases judgment decision making sport referees basketball |
| title | Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees |
| title_full | Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees |
| title_fullStr | Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees |
| title_full_unstemmed | Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees |
| title_short | Searching for Judgment Biases Among Elite Basketball Referees |
| title_sort | searching for judgment biases among elite basketball referees |
| topic | biases judgment decision making sport referees basketball |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02637/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eliamorgulev searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT eliamorgulev searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT oferhazar searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT oferhazar searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT ronnielidor searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT eransabag searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT michaelbareli searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees AT michaelbareli searchingforjudgmentbiasesamongelitebasketballreferees |