A brief look at the psychology of doping in sport

On the heels of the recent positive drug test in the Canadian Powerlifting Union, I wanted to appease my own interest on the subject and figured, what better opportunity to explore the psychology behind the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and write about it. I really want to be clear right from the start. If you are someone that is using PEDs and you are lifting in a federation or sport that permits, allows, condones, etc doping, I am not and will never cast some form of judgment on you. I respect and honour everyone’s right to choose and I hope everyone gives me the same back, even if we choose different things. As well, please forgive me in advance for not writing this as a journal article, but rather as a blog. I have referenced everyone, but mostly with hyperlinks for internet ease.

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks “why?” is the response “to win”, but when considering the factors involved, it is unlikely that simple. In fact, the first article I clicked on stated the exact same thing (https://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/ped/). In discussing winning as a factor, this article highlights that even this concept is larger and more complicated than it might initially seem. Consider in some countries where athletes are financially rewarded for success or international medals. Or perhaps, what if an athlete is not permitted to continue to participate in said sport when s/he returns from international competition without some hardware to show for it? This highlights that in some instances, “winning” is bigger than just winning. From the article, “Donovan, Egger, Kapernick and Mendoza (2002) used principles from social cognition to conceptualise a model for an athlete's decision to use PED. The model explores the effect appraisals of threat, benefit, morality and legitimacy have on attitudes and intentions and subsequent compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code....other influences such as reference groups (e.g., coaches), athlete personality, and the affordability and availability of PED are explicitly addressed” (as referenced in https://www.psychology.org.au/inpsych/ped/).

Strelan and Boeckmann (2003) use a model of deterrence theory. Deterrence theory is a theoretical approach to understand compliance with the law (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261177997_A_New_Model_for_Understanding_Performance-Enhancing_Drug_Use_by_Elite_Athletes). The model is as it sounds – athletes make decisions to use PEDs with an analysis of deterrents (consequences) vs. benefits (gains), but importantly, moderated by situational factors (such as the type of drug, the culture of use, acceptance from others).

Wiefferink et al (2008) indicated that nonusers held more restrictive norms and has less optimistic views of the outcomes, whereas, people who tended to use viewed others as more likely to also participate in the use of PEDs and overlooked the negative side and risk of use (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6504509_Social_psychological_determinants_of_the_use_of_performance_enhancing_drugs).

Ehrnborg and Rosen (2009) highlight these main factors as the major contributors to athletes deciding to use PEDs “improving and maintaining physical functioning, coping with the social/psychological pressures and striving for social and psychological goals, including economic benefits. Factors such as, “doping dilemma”, “win at all costs”, cost versus benefit, and the specificity of some specific doping agents, also play major roles.” (The Psychology Behind Doping in Sport http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096637409000458)

What is clear across these articles is that it’s not a simple answer. It’s not easy to determine who will decide to venture down the road of PEDs and why they make that choice. What is common across all references is there is an attitude of PED acceptance, a risk vs. benefit analysis that underemphasizes risk and/or overemphasizes benefit, and a social group or setting that permits or condones the use.

But what about morals? Don’t these people care they are cheating? How many people have, for one brief moment, snuck a peak at a fellow classmates test? What about in a board game, in a moment of bitterness at being beaten, gave yourself an extra point or 2? What happens when someone starts cheating and then doesn’t get caught, but maybe even passes that test or wins that board game? Humans are simple in that we keep doing what works and we stop doing what doesn’t. When cheating works to meet our needs, it becomes sustained. Go back to previous where I talk about the cost vs. benefit analysis and think about how the benefits here start to really outweigh the costs, since we aren’t getting caught. Heck, recently I got a speeding ticket because for years and years I was speeding and didn’t get a ticket and slowly my speed crept up. I was maintaining my behaviour because it worked to get me where I was going faster and I wasn’t being consequenced for it. I can assure you I slowed down immediately after that ticket and have not pushed it since.

I believe in a previous blog I wrote about the theory of cognitive dissonance. A state of psychological distress that occurs when our behaviour does not match our beliefs. In this state, one of 2 things alter (this is a very simplified version of the theory) – beliefs change to match behaviour or behaviour changes to match beliefs. If the benefits of doping increase so that the pros far outweigh the cons, even in a case where the person initially did not believe in what s/he was doing, but the behaviour persisted, well, that person’s belief system will come in line with whatever rationalization required to calm the psychological distress. People may start telling themselves that “other people are doing it”, “it’s not really that bad”, “it’s not helping that much anyway”, “I’m sure my competition is also doping”, “quitting is worse for whatever reason than continuing” or anything else you might think of. The mind is powerful and it really wants to be in psychological peace. Now, I’m not condoning doping! On a near daily basis I say to someone that an explanation is NOT an excuse... we can explain behaviour without excusing it.

I could probably pull at a bunch of other broad psychological theories to understand doping in sport (particularly referring to doping in sports and federations where it is not permitted), but I also wanted to talk about how any one person can have an impact on this. TrueSport Canada is an organization that helps to promote fair and honest sport across the country. You can find information and their guiding principles at http://truesportpur.ca/true-sport-principles When I spoke with a woman from the organization she talked about the TrueSport ambassadors being people who went around and simply embraced and embedded a culture of fair play, including anti-doping culture. We can talk about this in powerlifting in terms of anti-doping, using only approved equipment (not putting knee wraps under knee sleeves, not using supportive briefs under a suit or singlet), not having a referee agree to give special considerations, and any other way you can think of engaging in the sport that would not be honest and fair.

So, back to WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? We create a culture in our spaces of anti-doping. We go to our gyms, meets, groups every day and we don’t ever condone or glamorize doping. We encourage our teammates to check their supplements – all of them! We help them find resources and choose things that are in line with anti-doping. We support supplement companies that are willing to put the stamp of approval on their products. We educate others on the risks associated with doping and if we don’t know, we encourage them to find out. We don’t agree to turn a blind eye to it or to rationalize it with them. We don’t judge harshly or meanly, we simply don’t agree with doping in sport. We encourage fairness. We allow our teammates to lose gracefully rather than pressuring them to win at all costs. We encourage the idea that living with integrity is always more important than winning. We continue to support anti-doping initiatives. And then we pass this down to our youth in our lives and in our sports. We allow our children to grow up believing in these things. While this will not stop every instance of doping, for every young athlete who chooses the road of integrity over the road of doping, we have placed one more brick in the path.