Comparison Between Communication Skills of Licensed and Unlicensed Athletes and Sedentary Individuals

Abstract

This study aimed to examine whether the communication skills of licensed and unlicensed athletes, and sedentary individuals differed. The study group consisted of 160 students who were licensed (n = 60) and unlicensed athletes (n = 60), and sedentary individuals (n = 40) studying at the Faculty of Sports Sciences in the Near East University located in the Nicosia district of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. Frequency distribution was used for analyzing the data, while the t test was used for comparing two groups. In addition, analysis of variance, chi-square test, standard deviation, conformity of the data set to normal distribution, Shapiro–Wilk test, Q-Q plot chart, and skewness–kurtosis coefficients were used to determine the relationship between more than two variables. Levene’s methods were implemented for the homogeneity of variances. The differences between the ideas of groups were interpreted considering the significance level as P <0.05. The results indicated a significant difference between the students’ mean scores on the communication skills inventory (P < 0.05) with respect to gender, age, and performing sports activities. Communication skills of licensed athlete students were found to be better than those of sedentary individuals and unlicensed athlete students. In conclusion, sport was found to have a positive effect on the communication skills of licensed athletes. Participation in intra- and extracurricular activities should be promoted to improve the communication skills of unlicensed athletes and perform information transfer as a result. Accordingly, the communication, socialization, contribution, and cooperation activities of students can be increased.