What do sportsmanship, gamesmanship and deviance mean, and how is fair play promoted?
The concepts of amateurism and the Olympic ideal, sportsmanship and gamesmanship, positive and negative deviance, and the strategies used to promote sporting behaviour and fair play.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on ethics and deviance: amateurism and the Olympic ideal, the contrast between sportsmanship and gamesmanship, positive and negative deviance (including the win-at-all-costs Lombardian ethic), and the strategies used to promote sporting behaviour and fair play.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
OCR wants you to explain amateurism and the Olympic ideal, contrast sportsmanship and gamesmanship, explain positive and negative deviance, and evaluate the strategies used to promote sporting behaviour and fair play.
Amateurism and the Olympic ideal
Sportsmanship and gamesmanship
Positive and negative deviance
Why deviance has risen and how fair play is promoted
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 20194 marksDistinguish between sportsmanship and gamesmanship, giving a sporting example of each.Show worked answer →
A Component 03 knowledge and application question. Marks for each definition and a valid example of each.
Award marks for: sportsmanship is conduct that shows fairness, respect for opponents, officials and the rules, and generosity in victory or defeat (kicking the ball out so an injured opponent can be treated, or applauding an opponent's good play). Gamesmanship is bending the rules or using dubious but not strictly illegal methods to gain an advantage, stretching the spirit of the game without breaking the letter of the law (time-wasting, sledging to put an opponent off, or feigning an injury to disrupt momentum). Sportsmanship upholds the spirit of the game; gamesmanship exploits its edges.
Markers reward the spirit-of-the-game contrast and one genuine example of each, with gamesmanship as bending the spirit while staying within the letter of the rules.
OCR 20218 marksAnalyse why gamesmanship and negative deviance have increased in modern elite sport, and evaluate the strategies used to promote fair play.Show worked answer →
A Component 03 extended-response (levels of response) question. Markers reward causes (AO1 and AO2) and a reasoned evaluation of strategies (AO3).
Award credit for: gamesmanship and negative deviance have risen because the rewards of winning are now huge (money, sponsorship, fame from a commercialised, globalised, media-saturated sport), creating a win-at-all-costs (Lombardian) ethic that overrides the older amateur ideal of taking part fairly; pressure from coaches, sponsors and nations, and the example of role models who cheat, reinforce it. Strategies to promote fair play include codes of conduct and fair-play awards, technology and stricter officiating to catch offences, education and campaigns (Respect), punishments and bans to deter cheating, and promoting positive role models. A reasoned answer judges that while technology and punishment can deter the most blatant offences, they struggle against subtle gamesmanship, so changing the culture through education and role models, and reducing the win-at-all-costs pressure, is the more lasting solution.
A top answer links the rise to commercialisation and the win-at-all-costs ethic, evaluates several strategies, and concludes that cultural change matters most.
Related dot points
- The characteristics of pre-industrial popular recreation, the social factors that shaped it, and the rationalisation of sport through urbanisation, public schools and the development of national governing bodies.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on the emergence of modern sport: the characteristics of pre-industrial popular recreation, the social factors that shaped it, and how urbanisation, the public schools and the development of national governing bodies rationalised and codified sport into its modern form.
- The barriers to participation and equality of opportunity facing women, ethnic minorities, disabled people and lower social classes, and the strategies and legislation that promote inclusion.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on sport and social factors: the historical and contemporary barriers to participation and equality of opportunity facing women, ethnic minorities, disabled people and lower social classes (including discrimination, stereotyping and stacking), and the strategies, campaigns and legislation used to promote inclusion.
- The globalisation of sport through the media, sponsorship, migration and travel, the impact of hosting global events, and the role of sport as a global commodity and a tool of politics.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on the globalisation of sport: how the media, sponsorship, migration and travel have made sport global, the positive and negative impacts of hosting global events on a host city or nation, and the role of sport as a global commodity and a tool of politics.
- The types of performance-enhancing drugs and their effects, the reasons athletes dope and the arguments for and against, and the strategies used to combat doping.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on drugs in sport: the main classes of performance-enhancing drug and their effects, the physiological, psychological and social reasons athletes dope, the arguments for and against allowing drugs, and the strategies (testing, education, sanctions) used to combat doping.
- The causes of violence by performers and by spectators (including the role of the media and deindividuation), and the strategies used to reduce violence in sport.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on violence in sport: the causes of violence by performers (the win-at-all-costs ethic, frustration, retaliation) and by spectators (hooliganism, deindividuation, alcohol, rivalry and the media), and the strategies used to reduce violence on and off the field.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Physical Education (H555) specification — OCR (2016)