Joško Sindik1, Gordana Furjan-Mandic2, Natasa Zenic3, Ivana Čerkez Zovko4, Veroljub Stankovic5, Zvezdan Savic6, Zoran Djokic7, Miran Kondrič8

1Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology, Zagreb, Croatia; Harvard University, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston, United States
3University of Split, Faculty of Kinesiology, Split, Croatia
4University of Mostar, Faculty of Science and Education, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
5University of Prishtina, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, Leposavic, Serbia
6University of Nis, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, Nis, Serbia
7University of EDUCONS, Faculty of Sport and Tourism, Novi Sad, Serbia
8University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport, Ljubljana, Slovenia; International Table Tennis Federation, Lausanne, Switzerland

Comparison of Psychological Skills, Athlete’s Identity, and Habits of Physical Exercise of Students of Faculties of Sport in Four Balkan Countries

Monten. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2017, 6(1), 13-28

Abstract

The goals of the research were to determine the construct validity and reliability of two psychological instruments (AIMS) and (PSICA) applied on samples of college sport students; the correlations between the students’ competition rank, years of engaging in sport, and level of physical exercise; the differences among the universities in different countries, as well as among students from different years of study. The stratified sample included students from six universities, in total 1498 female and male college sport students, with an average age of 20.35±1.76 years (males) and 20.14±1.55 years (females). Both psychological measuring instruments showed very satisfactory psychometric properties. Reliability is particularly high for males for AIMS, while the reliabilities for PSICA are mainly moderate to high and lower than for AIMS. The results could be explained in terms of cultural and organizational differences, and provide the information about directions in designing efficient programs for physical exercise.

Keywords

Physical Activity, Psychology, Sport, Gender, Health.



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