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Tackling Diving: The Perception of Deceptive Intentions in Association Football (Soccer)

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior volume 34, pages 1–13 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The three studies reported examine judgment about the attempts of footballers (soccer players) to deceptively exaggerate the effect of a tackle. Study one reveals that non-professional participants agree about which players were attempting deception and those that were not; there was also agreement about the tackles in which the intentions were ambiguous. Study two demonstrates that the intentions of tackled players match the judgment of their intentions by observers. Study three provides a taxonomy of behaviors that are associated with deceptive and non deceptive intentions. We conclude that deceptive intentions in this context are to a degree manifest in behavior and are observable.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. We selected games from the lower leagues and used old recordings to avoid the participants knowing the particular footballers involved. We did not allow participants to watch clips of their ‘own’ team and we did not use important league games or cup semi-final or finals. No participants reported a particular interest in any of the games or players viewed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, King Henry 1 Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, UK

    Paul H. Morris & David Lewis

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  1. Paul H. Morris
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  2. David Lewis
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Correspondence to Paul H. Morris.

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Morris, P.H., Lewis, D. Tackling Diving: The Perception of Deceptive Intentions in Association Football (Soccer). J Nonverbal Behav 34, 1–13 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-009-0075-0

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Keywords

  • Deceptive intentions
  • Perception intentions
  • Deception
  • Sport perception