A comparative study of interest and attitudes towards sport of individuals who have just started boxing sport

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the interests and attitudes towards sports of individuals over the age of 18 who have just started boxing. The research included 262 athletes between the ages of 9 and 60, with an average age of 22.40. The attitude scale towards sports developed by Halil Evren Şentürk in (2015) was used in the study. Materials and Methods: For the data obtained in the study, an extreme value analysis (mahalonobis, cook) was first performed to determine the data that differed excessively from the study group, but it was determined that there were no extreme values ​​in the data set. In the study, descriptive analyzes were conducted to determine the distribution of participants according to demographic characteristics. Then, the suitability of parametric tests, kurtosis and skewness values, and homogeneity assumptions were reviewed, and independent sample t-test was used in independent pairwise group comparisons and Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between variables. The data were evaluated at the p<.05 level and all operations in the analysis process were carried out through the SPSS 25 program. Findings: As a result of the analysis conducted to compare the participants' attitudes towards sports and their sub-dimensions by gender, it was determined that men had a statistically significantly higher mean than women in the interest in sports sub-dimension (t=2.269; p<.05). It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the general averages of living with sports, active sports, and attitudes towards sports (p>.05). It was determined that there was a statistically significant low-level positive relationship between the years of doing sports and the dimension of interest in sports (r=.160, p<.05). The number of weekly training sessions and the dimension of interest in sports (r=.140, p<.05), the dimension of living with sports (r=.251, p<.05) and general attitude towards sports (r=.243, p<.05). It was determined that there was a low statistically significant relationship between and a medium level statistically significant relationship with the dimension of doing active sports (r=.328, p<.05). Conclusion: The most common reason for athletes to start sports is to stay in shape. This points to the benefits of boxing, such as burning calories and increasing muscle mass. Considering that the athletes participating in the research train 3.84 times a week on average, it can be said that boxing is an effective method to stay in shape. The interest and attitudes of athletes who have just started boxing towards the sport develop positively over time. These findings show that boxing is a beneficial sport for people of all ages and can be used to increase athletes' motivation and attitudes.