Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Faculty/School

Faculty of Arts

First Advisor

Brunce Hunsberger

Advisor Role

Thesis Supervisor

Abstract

Aggressive behaviour (as measured by “minutes in aggressive penalties”) and players’ perceived attitudes were investigated at four levels of hockey—pee wee and midget (major All Star), Junior A (Jr. A) and the National Hockey League (NHL). No support was found for the hypotheses suggesting that minutes in aggressive penalties occur as a function of differences in weight (light or heavy), position (forward or defense), skill (“less-skilled” or “more-skilled”), or years in league (rookie or veteran). The midget sample incurred significantly more minutes in aggressive penalties per player per 60 minutes of game time than did the other three samples.

Analyses of players’ responses to questionnaire items indicated that the Jr. A sample revealed the most aggressive attitudes, the pee wee sample the least aggressive, while the midget and NHL samples fall between the two. The midget and NHL samples demonstrated a very similar pattern of responses. It is suggested that these results cannot be explained by a simple modeling paradigm. Rather, they are discussed in terms of a process wherein players, as they progress towards professional status, over-emphasize qualities which they believe to be typical of a professional player.

Convocation Year

1977

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Psychology Commons

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