This experiment tested whether the conformism observed among panels of judges in aesthetic sports (Boen et al., 2006, 2008; Vanden Auweele et al., 2004) also occurs among referees in a combat sport. Similar to aesthetic sports, judo refereeing relies upon a form of open feedback. However, in judo this system is reactive (i.e., two corner referees have to publicly `correct` the score given by the higherstatus head referee), whereas it is active in aesthetic sports (i.e., judges with equal status report their score simultaneously and can use the feedback about the scores of their colleagues for evaluating later performances). In order to test whether such reactive open feedback system leads to conformism among referees in judo, we designed an experiment in which this feedback was manipulated. Methods: Participants were twenty certified Flemish referees, who had to score two sets of 11 video-ambiguous fragments that are used during formation and training of judo referees: one set with feedback about the head referee`s score, and one set without feedback. Results: When participants knew the head referees` score, their scores were significantly more in line with this score than when they did not know this score. More specifically, for both sets of fragments at least 10% less deviations from the head referee were observed when participants were given feedback about the score of the head referee. Discussion: These results suggest that preventable conformism can occur in typical judo refereeing, i.e. with reactive open feedback. Consequently, judo federations should contemplate eliminating the reactive open-feedback system to avoid conformism and facilitate divergent opinions by the corner referees. One possibility is to give all referees an electronic device with which they can input their score without seeing the score of the head referee.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Veröffentlicht von Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.