Effects of communication style on competence evaluations of soccer referees: Procedural vs. relational framing

Christian Burgers*, Tammie van Biemen, Ruben van Eeghen, David L. Mann

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Good communication skills are important for soccer referees, but it remains unclear what exactly constitutes good referee communication. In this article, we focus on the role of verbal framing by soccer referees by contrasting the effects of procedural frames (focusing on rules and regulations) and relational frames (focusing on relational aspects) on perceptions of referee competence. We conducted an experiment (N = 97) in which soccer referees used either procedural or relational frames to communicate about different types of in-game situations (yellow card and offside) to players. Results demonstrate that spectator perceptions of impartiality and confidence did not differ depending on the type of frame used. However, relational (vs. procedural) frames did increase spectator perceptions of respectfulness and communication skills. Soccer referees are recommended to use relational over procedural frames when communicating to players during a match.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)509-527
Number of pages19
JournalCommunication & Sport
Volume11
Issue number3
Early online date29 Dec 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Keywords

  • fairness
  • framing
  • referee communication
  • ritual model of communication
  • soccer

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