Examining mindfulness and moral disengagement in doping: Perspective of Turkish wrestlers

Studies related to attitudes toward the use of prohibited substances in Turkish athletes are scarce. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has implemented anti-doping educational policies emphasizing doping-related education in studies conducted among Turkish wrestlers. However, it is still unclear the extent to which the wrestlers comply and adhere to these anti-doping policies. No research has previously examined the effect of anti-doping education on athletes' mindfulness and moral disengagement in doping (MDD). Therefore, the present study has a two-fold objective: first, to examine whether doping-related education (DRE) and the status of being a national athlete (NA) have an effect on athlete mindfulness and MDD. Second, to analyze the relationship between each sub-dimensions of athlete mindfulness: awareness (ASD), judgment (JSD), and refocus (RSD) with MDD. A total of 409 male wrestlers participated in this study. MANOVA analysis showed that NA and DRE alone have no effect on MDD but have a general effect on mindfulness. The highest effect was on the ASD of being an NA ( = .173). When the interaction effect of NA DRE was examined, significant difference in MDD ( = 8.218, = 0.004), ASD ( = 8.476, = 0.004), JSD ( = 5.844, = 0.016), and RSD ( = 11.476, = 0.001) were found. MDD has a weak negative relationship with ASD ( = -0.126) and RSD ( = -0.041) and a weak positive relationship with the JSD sub-dimension ( = 0.140). Those results suggest that being a NA and having received anti-doping education affect moral disengagement in doping and athletes' mindfulness. As a conclusion, it is recommended to increase awareness and anti-doping education among national-standard Turkish wrestlers to prevent them from engaging in doping behaviors.