Sources, intensity, and responses to stress in Greek and Australian basketball referees

Sport officials have just recently attracted the attention of researchers. Previous studies have described the rational for the development of the BOSSS, an instrument that measures the sources of acute stress for basketball officials (Anshel & Weinberg, 1995 Kaissidis-Rodafinos, Anshel, & Porter, 1997). As a follow-up to these studies, data collected from 75 Greek and 38 Australian basketball referees were analyzed to compare the perceived intensity of stress and their responses during IT acute stressful situations. MANOVA revealed that Australian referees considered the stressors, "Arguing With Players", "Arguing With Coaches", "Making a Controversial Call", "Verbal Abuse From Coaches", "Verbal Abuse From Players" and "Making a Controversial Call" to be significantly move stressful than their Greek counterparts. On the other hand, Greek referees, as compared to Australians perceived "Presence of Media" to be more stressful. Qualitative data revealed differences in the referees' perceived intensity of stress as well as in their thoughts and coping responses to these sources of stress. Findings were attributed to vocational, sociological, and dispositional differences between individuals from the two cultures. It is suggested that before employing stress management programs, the cultural characteristics of the population for whom the program is intended should be considered.