The role of sport norms and organizational pressure on coaches’ use of interpersonal violence: The mediating role of perceived instrumental effects of violence

Interpersonal violence (IV) in sport is a pervasive issue that threatens athletes’ physical, social, and psychological well-being. Sociological theories suggest that organisational pressure and adherence to sport norms, such as traditional masculinity and sport ethic, may contribute to coaches’ beliefs in the instrumental benefits of violence, leading to the perpetration of IV. Despite prior research into these risk factors, no study has simultaneously examined individual, organisational, and societal factors influencing coaches’ use of IV. This study aimed to explore how coaches’ beliefs regarding the instrumental effects of IV mediate the relationship between three independent variables—organisational pressure, masculinity norms, and conformity to sport ethic norms—and the perpetration of three forms of IV (physical, instrumental, psychological/neglect) against athletes. A total of 766 coaches aged 18 and over and involved in organised sports were recruited via email and social media ads. Three separate mediation models were examined, and the three forms of IV were analyzed using probit links and interpreted as probabilities and odds ratios. No indirect effects were found for instrumental and physical violence. However, full mediations were found for conformity to sport ethic norms and organisational pressure in relation to psychological violence and neglect. Furthermore, masculinity norms were partially mediated by beliefs in the instrumental effects of IV concerning psychological violence and neglect. These findings provide insights into the specific sport norms and organisational factors that should be targeted when designing programs to prevent IV perpetrated by coaches in sports.