Author(s): MURAKAMI, K., TACHIYA, Y., Institution: TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1187

Purpose
In sports matches, referees must make prompt situational assessments and communicate their decisions quickly and accurately, including managing protests. In refereeing, various forms of non-verbal communication are utilized in addition to verbal instruction. However, disputes often arise because the referee's intentions are not effectively conveyed to players. Previous research on referee stress highlights significant interpersonal stressors, such as "handling protests from players and coaches" and "a lack of communication among fellow officials."(Gouttebarge et al., 2017). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct an exploratory investigation through an open-ended survey, aiming to identify specific non-verbal communication skills utilized by referees in actual sporting situations.
Method
In collaboration with the Japan Football Association (JFA), we recruited a sample of 76 JFA-certified referees who officiated in Division 1, 2, and 3 of the 2025 National League. The survey was conducted online using Google Forms, and participants were requested to access and complete it individually. Referees were asked to provide specific details regarding their interactions with players, focusing on what they were consciously aware of from a non-verbal communication perspective. These raw data responses were content analyzed; the three researchers discussed and came to a consensus on the grouping of the raw data responses, transforming them into meaningful subcategories and larger groupings.
Result
Analysis of the open-ended responses identified 401 raw data codes. These data were analyzed by three experienced qualitative researchers. This procedure resulted in 42 subthemes that were grouped into 19 higher-order themes; these were then summarized with seven overall non-verbal communication skills categories: 1) body movement, 2) facial expressions, 3) physical contact, 4) gaze, 5) paralanguage, 6) interpersonal distance, and 7) physical appearance.
Conclusion
Overall, the present investigation revealed that the non-verbal communication utilized by the referees in the present sample was similar to the classification of interpersonal communication reported in previous research (Fujimoto & Daibo, 2007). These findings suggest that psychologists have identified several non-verbal communication techniques that can be applied to these referees. The information gathered from this work also provides insight into the creation of better communication skills programs for this population.
Reference
Gouttebarge, et al. (2017) Symptoms of common mental disorders among professional football referees. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 45, 11-16.
Fujimoto & Daibo (2007) A hierarchical structure theory of communication skills. The Japanese Journal of Personality, 15, 347-361.