Examining the relationship between religious perception and psychological well-being levels of university football players

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. The relationship between sport and religion is one of the most important research topics of  sport psychology recently. In the relevant literature, this relationship mostly focused on sports and Christianity. The present study examines the psychological well-being levels of athletes of the Islamic religion. This study aims to examine the relationship between the religious perception of university football players and their psychological well-being levels. Material and Methods. For this purpose, 288 university students attending different universities in Turkey, completed the Religious Orientation Scale and Psychological Well-Being Scale. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between variables. Path analysis was applied to test the hypotheses developed in the study. The hypotheses created were tested by the path analysis method using Amos software. Moderator regression analysis was performed. Statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 23 program (SPSS Inc. Chicago. II. USA). P-value was set at p<0.05.   Results. According to the findings obtained from the study data, positive and significant relationships were determined between the religious perceptions of the university football players and their psychological well-being (p<0,01). Conclusions. In conclusion, it was concluded that the religious perception of the university football players was a significant predictor of their psychological well-being (p<0.01). It can be stated that in Turkish-Islamic culture, similar results to the relationship between Sports and Christianity have been achieved. Since religion is a universal phenomenon, it can be stated that the institution of religion has a special meaning for football players.