A Comparative Analysis of Moral Authority Measures between Division III College Athletes and Non-Athletes

Previous research has suggested that athletes differ on measures of moral maturity and reasoning from nonathletes. Previous research on morality has not investigated the sources of influence on moral decisions. This study utilized the Moral Authority Scale-Revised (MAS-R), to determine to what degree athletes and nonathletes attribute influence to outside sources and to determine if measures of moral authority differ between athletes and nonathletes. This study utilized a convenience sample design. While the mean score of athletes was higher on all of the MAS-R subscales than non-athletes, significance was reached only on the mean scores of the Family Source and Educators Source subscales. This indicates that athletes attribute more influence to teachers and parents for moral decisions than non-athletes. Future research is needed to determine if this extends to coaches as well, as this group has also been demonstrated to exert influence over athletes