Causes of Aggressive Behaviour among Undergraduate Athletes in Ilorin Metropolis

Aggressive behaviour among sport athletes is one the most common problem that has devastating effects on athlete’s career development. This study examined the causes of aggressive behavior among undergraduates’ athletes in Ilorin metropolis and also investigated the influence of moderating variables of age, gender and sport type on athletes’ aggressive behaviour. The research design adopted in this study was the descriptive survey. The population of the study comprised of all sport athletes in Ilorin metropolis. The respondents for the study were drawn using purposive sampling technique to select two hundred and fifty (250) athletes that participated in the study. Data was collected from the respondents with the use of the selfdesigned questionnaire tagged Causes of Aggressive Behaviour among Sport Athletes Questionnaire. That data obtained was analysed by using percentage, mean and ranking order analysis, Three-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The result of the study showed that sport athletes engaged in aggressive act when their friends are injured, when they are rough-handled, when they are bullied, when they feel threatened by their opponents, when their team complains about them. Results also revealed that there was no significant difference in the cause of aggressive behaviors among sport athletes in Ilorin metropolis based on age and gender, but a significant difference was found based on type of sport. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended among others that all athletes in Nigeria should be exposed to proper counselling to help them adjust better to their aggressive tendencies and also be more aware of the consequences of such actions to their career. They should also be educated on the adverse effect of aggressive behaviour.