Abstract:

Having a critical part of healthy adolescent development, social identity plays a vital role in developing an individual's self-image and forming a solid bond. Attitudes towards sports are effective in communication skills, socialization and identity development. This study aimed to determine secondary school students' perceptions of social identity in sports and their attitudes towards sports and examine them in terms of some variables. The study is quantitative in the descriptive survey model to define the variables of social identity and attitude towards sports in sports. As a methodology, the scanning model was used to obtain valuable inferences about possible cause-effect relationships within the scope of the study. A random sampling method was used to determine the research sample. 118 (50.9%) women and 114 (49.1%) 232 students voluntarily participated in the study in the Efeler district of Aydın province. Social Identity Scale in Sports and Attitude Scale towards Sports were used as data collection tools in the research. Research data were analyzed using SPSS 25.00 statistical package program. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test and ANOVA statistical techniques were used in the analysis of the data. The significance level was determined as .05. According to the findings of the research, in the comparison made according to the gender variable, it was seen that there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the total scores of the students' perceptions of social identity in sports. At the same time, there was a significant difference between the groups favouring the women in terms of the total scores of the attitudes towards sports. It was observed that the student's perceptions of social identity in sports and their attitudes towards sports differed statistically significantly according to their grade level, daily use of social media and participation in physical activities. According to the variable of participation in social activities, it was determined that there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of social identity perceptions and attitudes towards sports of the students participating in the research. As a result, according to the average scores of the secondary school students participating in the research, it was determined that the perceptions of social identity in sports and their attitudes towards sports were at high levels.

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