NUTRITIONAL NEED OR ATHLETIC OVERCONFORMITY - ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST

Overconformity in sport, as reported in the literature, suggests that athletes preparing for competition exhibit forms of positive deviance not because they disregard the social values of society but because th ey are willing to go beyond them. After examining the recent comments in the literature on overconformity as a form of positive deviance, th is paper explores the possibility that the dietary intake associated w ith two sports, requiring weight control, may provide examples of such behavior. The paper provides two sports cases where the extreme measu re takes the form of eating behaviors that go beyond what would be con sidered normal or healthy to meet the expectation of the sport. Such b ehaviors have serious implications for the practice of sport psycholog y. Intervention must go beyond the simple application of performance-e nhancing techniques, and sport psychologists are encouraged to base th eir intervention on strong moral and ethical principles that place the health and well-being of the athlete before the outcome of performanc e.