Thursday, 19 August 2021 10:01

Intermediary Role of Motivation and Social Support for Male Athletes with Physical Disabilities

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Elif TOP 1, , Mustafa AKIL 1

  • 1 Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Usak, Turkey

Abstract

To understand the factors that affect sports in physical disabilities, it is prominent to conduct studies, especially on people who are engaged in sports at certain levels. This research was a cross-sectional study aiming at determining motivation and perceived social support on male athletes with physical disabilities. A total of 666 male athletes with physical disabilities aged 20-41 participated in the study. Personal Data Form, Motivation Scale for Participation in Physical Activity (MSPPA) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used as data collection tools in the study. Participants received an above-average score from MSPPA and MSPSS in total and sub-dimensions. Individual reasons (one's own wishes, desires, situations that s/he thinks s/he will enjoy) were the most important in motivation; while in terms of social support the most significant one was family, the second one was friends. There was a positive correlation between MSPPA and MSPSS in total and sub-dimension scores of the participants. In MSPPA and MSPSS, the levels of the individuals with physical disabilities who did sports at elite level were significantly higher than those who did sports at amateur level. Our results revealed that motivation and social support had a very high importance on male athletes with physical disabilities. Our study is also important since it shows that athletes need more social support as they reach elite level and the social support has a positive impact on their motivations.

 

Keywords: Physical disability, motivation, social support, athletes, sport

Category: Coaching.

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