Abstract
Boxing whose rules and conventions tolerate and even encourage violence and aggressiveness. This study looks at the importance and meaning that male boxers make of the violence and aggression that they choose to express and experience in the particular context of boxing, where such behavior is permitted. For data gathering and analysis, the qualitative technique was applied. A semi-structured interview with twelve male boxers was conducted, which was led by the literature and research question but also permitted an in-depth investigation of the boxers’ viewpoints and experiences. Thematic analysis was utilized to evaluate and arrange the data into coherent patterns that were consistent with previous research. The most acknowledged subject was violence and aggression. Boxers employed excuses, rationalizations, and avoidance to weaken boxing’s brutality and aggressiveness, promoting the sport’s societal legitimacy and even profit. The boxing image promotes the dominant macho male ideal by endowing boxers with power and prestige (Zhou, 2021). Men might well be interested in boxing because of its good, macho qualities, as well as the communal admiration it creates. Boxing is a distinctive cultural arena in which physical aggressiveness and brutality represent masculine strength. Many people love the sport because of the explicit violence and physical risks involved. People cheer and love the violent players. You cannot separate boxing from aggression. For one to be called a good boxer, one must be aggressive.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Social psychologists describe aggression as a behavior with the intent to harm another individual. Since it involves the perception of intent, what one may see as aggression may be different from another view of point.
A study performed on boxers’ activity culture discovered that the aggressiveness of boxers in Boxing is characterized by aggression and violence (Jump, 2021). The aggressive nature of the sport is what makes the fans love boxing, from the body movements, and perfect combinations to knockouts. The sport legitimizes aggressiveness through rules and norms to a point where a boxer can murder an opponent within the boundaries of the sport. Norms and applicable legislation that constitute aggressive behavior are controversial aspects that nearly all researchers believe are significant in the psychological study of aggressive behavior. Psychology has long been opposed to boxing, owing to the catastrophic head traumas incurred by boxers. However, it provides a unique environment for researching aggressiveness and violence in the violent context of boxing.
Researchers argue that some norms and legitimacy are essential components of the aggressive expression. It is said, for one to be a good boxer, one needs to be aggressive to beat his opponent. Most violent boxers are viewed as iconic public heroes. They are celebrated for their aggressiveness. The authorization of violence and hostility in sports has sparked heated controversy. Boxing continues to have widespread societal acceptance. The Hatton-Pacquiao battle drew a sellout attendance of 16,000 spectators. The US Boxing Association awarded Pacquiao more than $20 million as the knockout winner.
A study performed on professional boxers found out that the aggressiveness involved in the sport is projected in life toward the opponent. Brutal deeds and serious damage inflicted on the opponent are justified, and remorse and sorrow are avoided, which might harm the boxer’s confidence and diminish aggressive performance. This strategy is used to absolve the fighter of guilt for aggressive and violent conduct. Boxers utilize self-generated reactions, but these reflexes are highly coached and regulated. Tyson has been compared to a machine, both inside and outside the arena, with no sympathy or sorrow. This comparison of the male boxer helps to box’s robust image while also serving to legitimize violence and aggressive behavior. However, aggressive conduct is not the primary goal; to succeed, boxers must be forced to produce the proper balance of emotional management, confidence, and strength.
Dominant psychological thinking and theory depict violence as an internal trait that belongs to and is ultimately controlled by the individual. However, no agreement on a uniform definition of aggressiveness has been found. Norms and legitimacy, in particular, are debated as crucial contextual variables in interpreting aggressiveness. The primary principles of aggressiveness can be internalized through one being’s purpose to inflict damage on another who is moved to prevent such harm. The validity and acceptability of aggressive behavior that corresponds to the sport’s specific regulations and norms are important in identifying and classifying aggressiveness in sport.
Thus, general psychological definitions of hostility are inadequate in the context of sports. Aggression is accepted as a normal and even necessary aspect of sports (Jump, 2021). Aggression in sports is defined as intense defensive and proactive forces utilized to obtain an edge in the game. The contrast between reactive and instrumental aggressiveness is a violent response in which a player’s anger is motivated by the desire to inflict unnecessary harm on an opponent is referred to as reactive aggression. Anger is not linked to instrumental aggressiveness, but it is likely to motivate uninvited (reactive) aggressive behavior (Zhou, 2021). Controlling one’s wrath is important in instrumental aggression, in which aggressiveness is actively channeled to achieve a goal.
Boxing, by definition, involves and promotes violence and aggressiveness. The most aggressive boxers become heroic public figures, adored and praised for their ferocity (Zhou, 2021). Boxing trivializes the societal consequences of violence while avoiding accountability for its inherently violent nature. It is a rare social setting in which aggressiveness is tolerated and violence is encouraged.
Boxing has been compared to military training in which the boxer’s body and mind are conditioned to function like machines. The famed boxing figure ‘Iron Mike’ (Tyson) has been compared to a machine devoid of sympathy and remorse. In boxing, aggression is believed to be a tactic utilized by the fighter to obtain a competitive edge.
Sports psychology has begun to investigate the nature of boxing to develop performance-enhancing therapies. Rather than being furious, controlling emotions and aggressive conduct appear to be crucial to boxers’ competitive performance. Psychology has avoided engagement in this blood sport due to the physical implications for boxers as well as the aggressive mentality underpinning it (Payman et al., 2018). The social and psychological acceptance of a violent sport like boxing may normalize and support masculine aggression and physical dominance.
Sports psychology has begun to investigate the nature of boxing to develop performance-enhancing therapies. Rather than being furious, controlling emotions and aggressive conduct appear to be crucial to boxers’ competitive performance (Lee et al., 2019). Psychology has avoided engagement in this blood sport due to the physical implications for boxers as well as the aggressive mentality underpinning it. The social and psychological acceptance of a violent sport like boxing may normalize and support masculine aggression and physical dominance.
Chapter 2: Methodology
Design
This research studies how different boxers and people understand aggressiveness and violence in boxing. To capture the boxers’ understanding in-depth, we used the qualitative approach where semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis were applied. A qualitative design made it easy to explore the psychological phenomena of aggression.
A qualitative design that draws on respondents’ knowledge and experiences while considering the researcher’s involvement in the interpretation of data is the best way for studying aggressiveness.
Participants and materials
The study involved male boxers. Semi-structured interviews not longer than an hour were conducted on five male boxers and recorded. The interview questions were formulated in line with the research objective. The interviews were free-flowing, conversational, and focused on addressing the main questions. The two, interviewer and interviewee engaged in a conversational like manner and the interviewee was not limited or restricted on the information to disclose. The interviews were recorded on tape with the interviewees’ consent and later transcribed and analyzed. Notes were also taken during the interviews.
The boxers were sampled from different gyms across major cities. Emails were sent to the boxing gym in the cities and we received a few responses. Four out of the twelve boxers conducted their interviews at public places such as parks, KFC, and coffee shops), three wised that the interviews would be conducted at their residential place while the rest of the boxers conducted the interviews at the gym.
Procedure
Participation in the interviews was voluntary and consent forms were signed by the interviewee to give informed consent for recording and participation in the research. The interview questions were unstructured to enable the interviewee to express themselves freely and not limit them to certain information. Upon finishing the interview, if there were anything that the interviewee was willing to share, they shared the information freely.
Thematic analysis is a versatile qualitative method that aids in the creation of a thorough and complicated description of the facts. Transcribing the data from the audiotape recordings of the interviews allowed for an informal assessment of the information and knowledge gathered in the interviews. The importance of reflexivity is emphasized in qualitative research, which acknowledges the researcher’s participation in data gathering and interpretation.
The research was particularly interested in violence and hostility in boxing. The boxers’ experiences and perceptions of aggression and violence serve as the analysis’s initial subject (Payman et al., 2018). The examination of power and status in and around boxing was recognized as critical to understanding the sport’s brutality.
The significance that boxers attributed to their violence and aggressiveness is essential to this study question. Violence and aggression are major issues in the study of boxers’ attitudes and experiences with their sport (Lee et al., 2019). The boxer’s approach to the problem is characterized by three sub-themes: avoidance of confronting violence, focus on the management of aggression and fury, and frequent rationalizations and excuses for the violence.
Results and discussion
Violence and aggression are major issues in the study of boxers’ perceptions and experiences with their sport. Most of the fighters avoided openly addressing the issue of violence and hostility, instead of focusing on the technicalities and highlighting the scientific character of boxing. They talked about how important it is to think and strategize in the ring. The boxers used emotionally neutralizing phrases to describe their experiences, which may be seen as an attempt to remove themselves from the emotional and psychological aspects of seeing violence and aggressiveness.
References
Jump, D. (2021). The criminology of boxing, violence and desistance. Policy Press.
Zhou, N. (2021). Re-imagining the Boxer Rebellion: popular culture’s engagement with colonialism, anti-imperialism, and identities (Doctoral dissertation).
Tiric-Campara M, Tupkovic E, Mazalovic E, Karalic E, Biscevic M, Djelilovic-Vranic J, Alajbegovic A. Correlation of aggressiveness and anxiety in fighting sports. Med Arch. 2012;66(2):116-21.
Halperin, I, Chapman DW, Thompson KG, Abbiss C. False-performance feedback does not affect punching forces and pacing of elite boxers. J Sports Sci. 2019 Jan;37(1):59-66. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1482526. Epub 2018 Jun 4. PMID: 29863966.
Lee B, Bennett LL, Bernick C, Shan G, Banks SJ. The Relations Among Depression, Cognition, and Brain Volume in Professional Boxers: A Preliminary Examination Using Brief Clinical Measures. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2019 Nov/Dec;34(6):E29-E39.
Payman V, Yates S, Cullum S. Early onset dementia in New Zealand Pacific boxers: a case series. N Z Med J. 2018 May 4;131(1474):20-26. PMID: 29723175.
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