Abstract:

This study, aimed to examine main the reasons for university students' participation in leisure activities and leisure constraints. A total of 485 university students including 294 female and 191 male university students from different departments of Süleyman Demirel University and Mehmet Akif Ersoy University participated in this study in the 2020-2021 academic year. In the data collection process of the research, “Personal Information Form”, “The Leisure Constraints Questionnaire” and “Questionnaire on Reason of Doing Sport” were used. During the analysis of the data obtained in the research, Mann Whitney U analysis and Chi-Square analysis were used in the SPSS 22.0 program. At the end of the research, it was determined that the main reasons for students heading towards sports in their free time are to stay away from stress, improve their health, be an area of interest, acquire new skills and improve their skills. It was seen that the main obstacles encountered by the students in the process of participating in leisure activities were transportation problems, lack of facilities and lack of knowledge, followed by psychology of the individual, lack of time and interest, and lack of friends, respectively. According to age and gender variables, it was determined that both the reasons for the students participating in the study to engage in sports in their free time and the barriers to participation in leisure activities differed significantly (p<0.05). As a result of the research, it can be concluded that university students use sports to reduce stress and improve health. In addition, it can be stated that age and gender variables were determinative on the barriers to sports and leisure. Events and organizations can be planned so that students have positive feedback about sports. It is thought that this study will shed light on future research.

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