Obsessive passion in youth hockey parents: relationships with need satisfaction and verbal aggression toward officials

Abstract

Verbal aggression toward officials in hockey is a problem. Parents are generally thought to be perpetrators of much of this verbal aggression. Obsessive passion toward being a hockey parent may be a reason for referee abuse. Obsessive passion, as defined in the dualistic model of passion, has been shown to predict various maladaptive outcomes, of which verbal aggression toward referees may be one. In line with the need-density hypothesis, obsessive passion may be a result of unmet needs in general which are instead met within the activity of being a hockey parent. Relying on basic need satisfaction theory, the need-density hypothesis, and the dualistic model of passion, this study examined the relationships between unmet needs inside and outside of the activity of being a hockey parent and obsessive passion, as well as the relationship between obsessive passion and verbal aggression toward officials. I distributed an online survey to Canadian hockey parents (N = 941; 75% female, Mage = 41.8 years, SD = 6.2 years) that asked them about their psychological needs met in general and needs met by being a hockey parent, level of obsessive passion, and verbal aggression toward officials. Path analysis was used to examine the relationships among the variables. I found that obsessive passion strongly predicted verbal aggression toward officials (b = .506, p < .001), and that obsessive passion was negatively associated with needs met in general (b =- .172, p <.001) and had no relationship with needs met while being a hockey parent (b = .004, p = .902). Finding no relationship between needs met by being a hockey parent and obsessive passion contradicts findings by other authors on the compensatory nature of obsessive passion. These findings enhance our understanding of both the role of obsessive passion in hockey parenting and the antecedents of verbal aggression toward officials.