Clarifying the Positive Thoughts Structure of Sport Societal Values by Neural Network Approaches in COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose of this study was to clarifying the relationship structures with social values of complex sports and positive thought under today's COVID-19 social anxiety by neural networks and network-centric analysis. The Value items were the terminal ones (benevolence, equality, accomplishment, global stability, hope for future, proud country, family bond etc.) and the instrumental ones (consistent, creative, light hearted, honest, ambition, creative, polite, etc.). The subjects (university students; n = 221) received an explanation of the study’s structure and of various sports-related benevolent activities such as donations, charity matches and voluntary disaster relief activities. Next, they were asked, ‘What types of values do you recognize in benevolent sports activities in world-wide health anxiety under COVID-19 pandemic?’ Neural network model, random forest model and correspondence analysis were executed and discussed some relation structure of societal human values of sport with the positive thoughts under COVID-19 pandemic. Current study shows the possibility of supporting the understanding of the complex, gradual, transitive, and central structures of diverse sport values by approaching network analysis. As a result, it was clarified that the social wisdom of these sports would be a desire to support the survival of the physical society more creatively. Under the social unrest in the advanced information society, the importance of tactile communities such as sports was confirmed.