The Role of Cognitive Approaches in Coping with the Stress of Football Referees

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of cognitive approaches in coping with the stress of football Referees that was done by descriptive-correlational method. The the statistical society of the study consist of all 2900 active referees (members) of Iran Football Referees’ Academy telegram channel, that 251 people of them were randomly chosen as samples. Referees’ stress sources and cognitive approaches’ questionnaire was used for accessing to the research’s purposes, and structural equations model was used to state the relationship between the research’s variables. The findings showed that cognitive approach has a negative and meaningful effect on referees’ stress. Also cognitive approach (positive approach, behavoral and negative approach) had the most negative effect on football referees’ stress by order. Accordingly, the authorities should present their own strategies and plans for controlling, reducing and managing the stress of football referees, by focusing on cognitive approaches’ issues and content, and its dimensions in the forms of workshops, Justification classes and training courses, to increase the level of football referees' readiness to cope with stress.