| Abstract: |
Many fouls committed in football (called soccer in some countries) are
ambiguous, and there is no objective way of determining who is the “trueâ€
perpetrator or the “true†victim. Consequently, fans as well as referees
often rely on a variety of decision cues when judging such foul situations.
Based on embodiment research, which links perceptions of height to concepts of
strength, power, and aggression, we argue that height is going to be one of
the decision cues used. As a result, people are more likely to attribute a
foul in an ambiguous tackle situation to the taller of two players. We find
consistent support for our hypothesis, not only in field data spanning the
last seven UEFA Champions League and German Bundesliga seasons, as well as the
last three FIFA World Cups, but also in two experimental studies. The
resulting dilemma for refereeing in practice is discussed. |