Examining the Impact of Sports on Secondary Education Students' Life Skills

Abstract

Life skills are applicable psycho-social skills and abilities to develop desired qualities such as self-confidence and socialization. In this context, the research aims to investigate how participation in sports activities during secondary education affects an individual's life skills. In the research, the sample group consists of a total of 698 students, including 388 males and 310 females studying at secondary schools in Malatya province district in 2018-2019 academic year. In order to evaluate life skills acquired through sports, the scale with its original form Life Skills Scale for Sport (LSSS) was used. Statistical package program (SPSS 21 version) was used to analyze the data obtained in the research. Normality analysis tests were conducted on the data. As the result of the tests, it was observed that the data were not normally distributed and non-parametric tests were used for the analyzes. The Mann Whitney U test for binary comparisons and Kruscal Wallis H tests for multiple comparisons were utilized. In the study, the significance level was accepted as p <0.05. The research findings showed that there were differences in the life skills of the sample group according to the variables discussed. As a result, it was concluded that middle school students' age, gender, class, sports and playing status in the school team made significant differences whereas the family income situation did not affect in shaping their life skills.