Is losing what brings upon frustration and aggression or does frustration and aggression bring upon losing? Not only are the members of the Mets team upset, but their fans also are experiencing much frustration after a recent loss to the Nationals by 18 runs. This kind of brutal loss has the power to turn teammates against each other and cause internal and external problems for the team. Aggression and frustration is seen in many professional athletes due to their competitive nature. Aggression is the physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone else. Frustration is the blocking of goal-directed behavior. Together, these two ideas could be what causes a loss or the effect after a loss.
One probable cause to this ruthless game may be due to an injury faced by pitcher, Noah Syndergaard. This situation left not only Syndergaard frustrated, but the rest of his teammates, coaches, and managers. After the game, fingers started to be pointed and the responsibility was put on others out of frustration. The general manager of the Mets, Sandy Alderson, put the responsibility on Syndergaard for avoiding to get an MRI exam when his injury first began.
Aggression and frustration often come hand in hand when related to sports. Frustration occurs when we are expecting gratification, but something is holding us back from that. The Mets have beat the Nationals two times before this game. They were expecting a win, and when something was blocking them from that aggression was seen through the team, coaches, and fans. The overall dynamics of the team and stadium dramatically changed as the star pitcher was taken out. This was most likely prevented the win that the Mets anticipated.
In a recent study researchers recognized that sport aggression, over the years, has become a major problem on and off the playing field. They directed a study comparing real life aggression and sport aggression. In the end, there were not many differences indicated. The hostility of both aggressions were similar. One difference that many may see as obvious, is female athletes do not show as much aggression as male athletes. This was proven to be true, however more hostility and competitiveness is seen in female athletes today. This may be due to the highly competitive nature to do what it takes to receive rewards for victories. We can see this behavior in professional athletes who are widely broadcasted, making the acts of aggression and frustration more common and easily accepted.
Sources:
Keeler, L. A. (2007). The differences in sport aggression, life aggression, and life assertion among adult male and female collision, contact, and non-contact sport athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior,
Myers, D.G. (2015). Exploring Social Psychology: 7th Edition
Puma, M. (2017, April 30). Collins erupts after Mets see Noah Syndergaard nightmare. Retrieved May 02, 2017, from http://nypost.com/2017/04/30/this-looks-like-the-mets-noah-syndergaard-nightmare/
Rachel Platko