Aggressive communication has been receiving more attention, not only in social endeavors, but in sports. Trash talking in athletics is one of the oldest forms of competitiveness, perhaps connecting to an innate human characteristic. We decided to focus on one sport and asked: what role does aggression play in organized soccer? We hypothesized that human nature does impact aggression in sports and our study aimed to investigate that inference. An online survey was sent to coaches and captains of varying schools and levels of soccer and then forwarded to players. The questions were designed to help us understand aggression\u27s role in soccer, by asking how often participants experience or take part in trash talking and intentional penalizations, and how it all may affect their play. Players were given an opportunity to share examples of trash talking they have encountered and to explain whether or not they felt it was a part of human nature.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_spring2020/1001/thumbnail.jp
