MLB's potential crackdown in the Biogenesis case could have a reverse effect and actually encourage players to start doping, according to a leading scientific expert.
Alex Rodriguez is working out at the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa. (AP)Bans of upward of 100 games for Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and possibly as many as 20 others could spark a diverse range of reactions, and not ones you might expect in the wake of such a massive crackdown, Dr. Ferric C. Fang, author of groundbreaking research on the genetic and biological reasons why humans cheat, told Yahoo! Sports.
"It is not as simple as saying that a harsh penalty and examples of people being caught is going to dissuade others," Fang said. "For some, that will be the case. But for others, it could help them rationalize cheating in their own mind. Seeing that there has been this prevalent use of substances could make some feel that is what they need to do in order to compete."
Furthermore, because baseball has long had a problem with performance-enhancing drugs, yet it's always the players bearing the weight of the punishment and never the owners or league officials who could be viewed just as culpable, Fang believes players could develop a feeling of discontent.
"We have seen in society that if a person works for an organization that they feel is dishonest, that encourages cheating," he surmised.
This is all related to the ways in which the human mind rationalizes cheating, according to Fang, professor of laboratory medicine, microbiology, medicine and pathobiology at the University of Washington.
Humans, modern research suggests, are wired to gain an unfair advantage when given the opportunity to do so. Before we all start feeling bad, we are not the only ones. Animals, fish, even yeast cells and bacteria have been found to exploit colleagues to better their plight.
"No one likes to think of themselves as a cheat," Fang said. "So the mind finds ways to make it acceptable. If you think others are doing it, if you feel it is necessary to be competitive, if you feel it is to return from an injury rather than gain an advantage, these are all ways that athletes can justify it to themselves."
That theory played out in the mind of former Tour de France cyclist Tyler Hamilton, Lance Armstrong's teammate on the U.S. Postal Service team the USADA says ran the most sophisticated drug program in cycling.
"A thousand days of getting signals that doping is okay, signals from powerful people that you trust and admire," Hamilton wrote in his book, "The Secret Race," detailing how he resisted drug taking for nearly three years before falling into its clutches, "signals that say It'll be fine and Everyone's doing it.… Willpower might be strong, but it is not infinite. And once you cross the line, there's no going back."
What may be surprising is that the risk-reward ratio that many associate with cheating is by no means proportionate. In other words, the amount an athlete stands to gain either financially or in terms of improved performance need not be great for him to cheat. A Duke University study found that participants in staged game shows were actually less likely to cheat once the cash prize was increased.
Fang is adamant that in relation to sports, the only way towards a fair playing field is to change the culture within the games themselves, rather than expecting athletes to automatically display their honesty.
"There is no quick fix," Fang said. "It is really about the environmental factors that the contestants find themselves in and altering them.
"One thing that can drastically alter human behavior is if people feel they are part of something that is done in a certain, correct way; that they are part of something that came before them and will remain after them. That kind of inherent respect for the game and what it stands for would be a powerful factor."
Golf, with its long-held traditions of propriety, may be the only modern sport where that kind of ethos sticks. Players regularly call penalties on themselves, even in situations where it would have been undetectable to others and leaves them at a serious disadvantage.
Penalties, particularly in relation to taking performance-enhancing drugs, are also necessary, but must be applied carefully, says Fang. One trend that has puzzled scientists is that punitive punishments such as lifetime suspensions have proved to be less effective as a deterrent than shorter bans.
"That goes back to whether the governing body is seen as fair and honest and even-handed itself," Fang added.
Sports is not the only walk of life where cheating is a serious problem, with the finance industry battling illicit conduct and even the scientific field itself being hit with instances of dishonesty and falsification.
As A-Rod and his tarnished cohorts are proving, cheating itself is a science, just not an exact one.
Related Biogenesis coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Flip side to Biogenesis scandal on deck for Melky Cabrera, others• Jeff Passan: Biogenesis scandal looms larger than BALCO
• Report: MLB trying to suspend A-Rod, Ryan Braun, others connected to Biogenesis clinic
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