Major League Baseball is probably going to suspend a number of high profile players for their connection to the Biogenesis clinic in Miami, including New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun. The players are accused of using steroids and other banned performance enhancement supplements, prompting the important sport psychology question about why so many athletes continue to cheat in sports – even with suspensions, fines, and public humiliation hanging in the balance (not to mention individual morality concerns). MLB is not the only place where athletes continue to cheat, as it is not uncommon to read about athletes from literally all sports involved in sport performance cheating.
Even with all the increased attention toward sports cheating (especially steroid usage), countless athletes continue to roll the dice and risk their professional athletic careers. Seemingly the integrity factor of playing fair is an idea of the past, as it now appears that increasingly more athletes are doing almost whatever they can in order to increase size, strength, speed, and recovery time from injury. And it also seems that no matter what dangers and consequences are risked by cheating, many athletes will still just that – cheat.
So why are athletes cheating? Some of the bigger reasons that athletes have shared with me over the years include:
- Ego. Some athletes simply become intoxicated with the size and strength gains associated with steroids, and enjoy the vanity benefits as well. Some hit a ball longer, others throw a pitch harder, and some are able to run faster. These advances, viewed by some, are well worth the risk of cheating.
- Need to keep up. There is a feeling in elite-level sports that you need to cheat in order to simply keep up with the competition. Mnay athletes have gone on record saying this over the years, and with all the players caught using in MLB there is certainly a degree of validity to this argument.
- No fear of getting caught. While the consequences associated with getting caught for cheating are great, many players still feel as though the odds of them being tested are slim, and that the drugs they use are undetectable by the testing procedures.
- Group dynamics. Similar to the need to keep up with the competition, some athletes use because they see other teammates using and it becomes almost “normal” to do what the others are doing.
Of course, these are only a few of the reasons why athletes decide to cheat. Some athletes have told me that they don’t feel the drugs should be banned, while others have minimized the risks associated and convinced themselves that the drugs they are using are harmless. Regardless of the reason(s), it is important that we continue to work hard and preserve the integrity of sports, especially for player safety and maintaining a fairness in sport competition.
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