IMAGINATION AND DECISION-MAKING IN AMERICAN FOOTBALL ATHLETES

Abstract

Aim: Determining decision-making styles and imagination usages of American footballers and revealing the relationship between them. Material and method: The study group of the research is composed of 82 American football athletes who are playing in College League and whose mean age is 20.81±2,73.Data collection tool: Decision-making styles scale which was developed by Mann et al. (1998) and adapted into Turkish by Deniz (2004), and Psychological performance strategies scale which was developed by Thomas et al. (1999) and whose validity and reliability was performed in Turkish by Miçooğulları (2017) were used. Data analysis: Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were applied. Findings: It was found that Imagination (Exercise) scores of the athletes had a positively significant relationship with attentive decision-making scores. It was determined that the decision-making styles explained 17% of the variance of exercise imagination scores and those variables significantly predicted the Imagination (Exercise) scores. Furthermore, it was suggested that self-esteem score significantly and positively predicted exercise imagination scores in decision-making. Results: It was seen that American footballers used competition imagination more; however exercise imagination was related to decision-making styles when they were associated with decision-making situations. It can be said that this situation indicated that especially the athletes using exercise imaginations gave more attentive decisions and that imaginations of the athletes whose self-esteem levels were higher in decision-making might increase or imaginations of the athletes whose self-esteem levels were lower in decision-making might decrease.