Examination of the Differences in Licensed Athletes’ Personal Beliefs in Relation to Some Socio-demographic Characteristics

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to examine the personality beliefs of licensed athletes according to sports branch, type of sport and gender. In addition, it is aimed to make some contributions to the literature since personality beliefs in athletes have not been studied before. Methods: This study was conducted by using the survey model. The study group consisted of 154 licensed athletes aged 15 and over. A Personal Information Form and the Personality Belief Scale Short Form were used to collect data in the study. SPSS 22.0 package program was used in the analysis of the data. Results and Suggestions: When the personality beliefs of licensed athletes were examined according to the sports branch variable, no significant difference was found in the sub-dimensions of schizoid, paranoid and antisocial personality beliefs. Narcissistic, histrionic, and borderline sub-dimensions scores were found to vary significantly. When examined according to the variables of doing team sports or individual sports, no significant difference was found between these two groups in all the personality belief sub-dimensions. When examined according to the gender variable, only the obsessive/compulsive subscale scores were found to vary significantly depending on gender in favour of the male athletes. Comparing personality beliefs with those who do not do sports can be useful in determining whether doing sports is effective in personality beliefs. Examining the personality beliefs of athletes according to their success can contribute to the field of sports and exercise psychology.