Abstract:

This research was executed in order to reveal the relationship between the sportive character and mental well-being of students studying in sports sciences. The research was developed in compliance with the correlation survey and causal comparative models. The obtained data were reached by convenience sampling method. Participants consist of 299 athlete students (n = 100 female n = 199 male), studying at Artvin Çoruh University, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, and Kütahya Dumlupınar University. The "Sports Character Scale", which was adapted into Turkish, and the "Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale", which was developed to evaluate the well-being of athletes, were used to gather data in the study. In the analysis of the data, first and foremost, the link between the character of the athlete and mental well-being was examined by network analysis. In addition, multiple regression analyses were conducted to ascertain the predictive role of sports character on mental well-being. At the conclusion of the analysis of the data, integrity and sportspersonship significantly predicted mental well-being positively and antisocial attitude negatively. These variables explain approximately 24% of the total variance of mental well-being. On the other hand, compassion and fairness included in the regression were not predicted significantly. In general terms, it can be stated that sports character is an important component of mental well-being. In future research, the explanation of the irrelevant results in the link between sports character and mental well-being should be examined thoroughly.

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