Where is the line between competing hard and cheating, and why do athletes cross it?
Sporting ethics including fair play, sportsmanship and gamesmanship, the concept of deviance, relative and absolute deviance, under-conformity and over-conformity, and Coakley's sport ethic.
A focused WJEC A-Level PE answer on sporting ethics and deviance, covering fair play, sportsmanship and gamesmanship, relative and absolute deviance, under-conformity and over-conformity, Coakley's sport ethic, and the reasons performers behave deviantly.
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What this dot point is asking
WJEC wants you to explain the ethics of sport (fair play, sportsmanship and gamesmanship), define deviance and distinguish relative from absolute deviance, explain under-conformity and over-conformity, set out Coakley's sport ethic, and explain why performers behave deviantly. The skill is precise definition plus matched examples, and linking deviance to the commercial pressure to win.
Sporting ethics: fair play, sportsmanship, gamesmanship
Two contrasting ethics underlie this:
- The amateur (Corinthian) ethic: taking part fairly and for its own sake matters more than winning.
- The win-at-all-costs (Lombardian) ethic: winning is everything, which encourages gamesmanship and deviance.
Modern, commercialised sport leans towards the Lombardian ethic, which is why gamesmanship has grown.
What deviance is
Relative and absolute deviance
Under-conformity and over-conformity
Following Coakley, deviance runs in two directions, not one.
This is a key WJEC point: positive deviance is still deviance, because over-accepting the norms harms the athlete even though it looks like dedication.
Coakley's sport ethic
Why performers behave deviantly
The reasons are rooted in the commercial, win-at-all-costs game:
- the win-at-all-costs (Lombardian) ethic,
- the huge financial and status rewards of winning under commercialisation,
- pressure from coaches, sponsors, media and fans,
- the feeling that everyone else is doing it, and
- the low chance of being caught or punished for grey-area behaviour.
Examples in context
Example 1. Feigning injury to waste time. A player going down to run down the clock is gamesmanship: it bends the spirit of the game and uses a grey area without technically breaking a rule, driven by the desire to protect a lead.
Example 2. Playing through a serious injury. An athlete who hides a real injury to keep competing shows over-conformity to Coakley's sport ethic (accepting risk and refusing limits), an example of positive deviance that harms the performer.
Try this
Q1. Define gamesmanship. [1 mark]
- Cue. Bending the rules and using grey areas to gain an advantage without technically breaking the written rules.
Q2. Distinguish relative deviance from absolute deviance. [2 marks]
- Cue. Relative deviance depends on the situation (acceptable in one context, not another); absolute deviance (serious violence, doping) is unacceptable in any context.
Q3. State two of the norms in Coakley's sport ethic. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two of: make sacrifices for the game, strive for distinction, accept risks and play through pain, and refuse to accept limits.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC 20186 marksDistinguish between sportsmanship and gamesmanship, and explain why performers increasingly choose gamesmanship.Show worked answer →
Sportsmanship is playing fairly, within both the written rules and the unwritten spirit of the game, with respect for opponents, officials and the result (kicking the ball out so an injured opponent can be treated). Gamesmanship is bending the rules and using the unwritten or grey areas to gain an advantage without technically cheating (time-wasting, sledging, feigning injury, exploiting loopholes). Fair play is the broad ethic of respecting the rules and the spirit of the game that underpins sportsmanship.
Performers increasingly choose gamesmanship because of the win-at-all-costs (Lombardian) ethic, the huge financial and status rewards for winning that come with commercialisation, the pressure from coaches, sponsors and media, and the sense that everyone else is doing it. The low chance of punishment for grey-area behaviour makes it tempting.
Markers reward a clear contrast (within the spirit versus bending the rules), an example of each, and reasons rooted in commercialisation and the pressure to win.
WJEC 20214 marksExplain the difference between under-conformity and over-conformity as forms of deviance, using Coakley's sport ethic.Show worked answer →
Deviance is behaviour that breaks the accepted norms of sport. Coakley distinguishes two directions.
Under-conformity (negative deviance) is rejecting the norms by doing too little or breaking the rules to gain an advantage, such as deliberate fouling, match-fixing or using banned drugs to cheat.
Over-conformity (positive deviance) is over-accepting the norms of the sport ethic to a harmful degree, such as playing through serious injury, over-training, or making unhealthy weight cuts because an athlete believes a real competitor sacrifices everything and never gives up.
Coakley's sport ethic is the set of norms elite athletes over-accept: make sacrifices for the game, strive for distinction, accept risks and play through pain, and refuse to accept limits. Over-conformity to these norms drives positive deviance.
Markers reward the under- versus over-conformity distinction with examples and a link to Coakley's sport ethic.
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