Match-fixing: socio-economic and psychological factors

Abstract

The topic of this article is Match-fixing: socio-economic and psychological drivers. The topic’s relevance lies within the core principle of sports: fair competition between teams or individual athletes. The research problem: what are the socio-economic and psychological factors that drive individuals to engage in match-fixing? Socio-economic and psychological factors were identified as the research’s object. The aim was to research and review relevant literature about cheating in sports, which would help define those driving factors. The research method used in this article is a literature review. Across the research, the most common reason for involvement in match-fixing was personal or financial gain. The second most common reason was to help others, either family, friends, or elders. Threats from gang members, peer pressure, and the commonality of such behavior in the environment were also mentioned as driving factors to get involved in match-fixing. Some scientific articles concluded that the older the athlete, the less the probability she or he has of being involved in match-fixing. On the contrary, other articles came to a different conclusion and stated that younger athletes have a higher chance of being involved. Moreover, while a certain article concluded that the athletes’ skill levels and justification of match-fixing do not correlate, another drew a conclusion saying that more successful athletes are less likely to engage in match-fixing activities. Some scientific articles considered differences between genders. It was found that Lithuanian men justify illegal behaviors more than women, and Australian men are more likely to be involved in corruption than women. However, this could be viewed as a universal trend, because no evidence of gender differences was found among other countries. Scientific articles stated that there is a gap in understanding the characteristics of people involved in match-fixing activities and a lack of studies based on testimonies and interviews with athletes who were involved in match-fixing or know someone who has been involved. Studies that would use primary research data mining methods to acquire first-hand observations, emotions, and knowledge could be beneficial to further examine socio-economic and psychological factors that drive individuals to engage in match-fixing and could help to better understand their characters.