GOAL COMMITMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE AMONG CYCLING ATHLETES

Abstract

Cycling sport is one of the sports that require physical and psychological resilience. It is thought that athletes should show physical and psychological resilience to reach specific target, find solution for unexpected, sudden problems, be patient and be determined in this sport that requires physical and psychological resilience that is done under extreme conditions. It is important to examine goal commitment and psychological resilience of cycling athletes for performance improvement, success motivation and contribution to the studies in this field. Purpose: This study aimed to examine goal commitment and psychological resilience of elite cycling athletes. 94 elite bicycle athletes participating in national and international races between the ages of 18 and 27 participated voluntarily. Resilience Scale for Adults, developed by Friborg et al. (2003), was used to determine psychological resilience of athletes. Goal Commitment Scale, developed by Hollenbeck, Williams and Klein (1989) and adapted to Turkish by Senel and Yildiz (2016), was used to determine goal commitment. Scale reliability coefficient was found to be 0.913. In conclusion, no significant differences were found between sex and psychological resilience and goal commitment. But, significant differences were found between sports ages and subscales of self-perception, perception of future, and structural type of Resilience Scale for Adults. Significant difference was found between sports ages and goal commitment. As sports age increase, so did goal commitment. There was no significant correlation between goal commitment and psychological resilience. Goal commitment and psychological resilience training is recommended for different sports branches requiring physical and psychological resilience. Article visualizations: