INVESTIGATION OF SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ATHLETES DEALING WITH WATER SPORTS

Abstract

It is known that many factors can cause pressure for the athlete in sports performed on water rather than any outdoor sports. In this context, it is important to train athletes' cognitive abilities and skills with a strong mindset and to increase their awareness of their psychological characteristics. The aim of the study is to examine the psychological characteristics of athletes engaged in water sports regarding locus of control, motivation and achievement orientation and to determine possible relationships between them.. Appropriate sampling, one of the non-probabilistic sampling methods, was used in determining the participants, and the study was carried out with a correlational survey model. A total of 147 licensed athletes (34 females and 113 males), including 48 windsurfers, 36 individual sails, 37 sets of sails, 26 kitesurf, participated in the study. The participants were administered the “Revised Locus of Control Scale”, “Sports Motivation Scale II” and “2x2 Achievement Orientation Scale”. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. According to the analysis results, it was determined that there are statistically significant differences between national and non-national athletes in all sub-dimensions of the achievement orientation scale and that all athletes have a positive orientation towards learning. The average scores of the performance-approach sub-dimension of athletes aged 20 and under and the amotivated sub-dimension of individuals with sports age 9 and over were found to be significantly higher. In addition, a moderately significant positive correlation was found between performance-avoidance achievement orientation and the integrated regulation motivation dimension, and between intrinsic regulation and learning-approach orientation. As a result, it is thought that individuals dealing with water sports can develop different strategies according to their psychological characteristics on the way to success and the findings will contribute to the field of sports psychology.