The relationship between motivation and mental well-being levels of female athletes and sportive competence

The main purpose of this study; The aim of this study is to evaluate the level and direction of the relationship between motivation and mental well-being in sports and perceived sportive competence level of female athletes. Another aim is to evaluate the differences between motivation in sports, mental well-being and perceived sportive competencies according to the variables of age, branch, athlete background and nationality. Quantitative research in line with the research purpose; Relational screening method and causal comparison method were used. As a data collection method, online and face-to-face data were collected on a voluntary basis by applying the survey technique. The universe of the research consists of women who have been active in sports for at least two years in the branches of football, futsal, basketball, volleyball and handball in different sports clubs in Istanbul. The sample consists of voluntary participants (n= 300) determined by convenience sampling method.Descriptive Information Form", "Motivation in Sports Scale", "Mental Well-Being Scale" and "Perceived Sportive Competence" sub-scale of "Physical Self-Description Inventory" were applied to determine the perceived sportive competence. The obtained data were transferred to the SPSS 24 program and Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H and Correlation analyzes were performed as statistical analysis. As a result, it has been determined that the age variable is a determining variable in the levels of internal motivation to know and achieve, and the sports ability and mental well-being levels of the athletes in the 26-33 age range are better. motivation in sports; It was determined that the education variable affected the external regulation, extrinsic motivation and identification dimensions positively and was significant.It has been determined that as the level of education increases, the level of mental well-being increases and is significant, and there is no difference in sports ability according to the education variable. It has been determined that as the sports history of female athletes increases, the level of motivation in sports also increases, and the level of motivation in sports is affected by sports history. It is seen that sports background is an important variable in sports ability and mental well-being. It has been determined that there is a difference in the total score of Extrinsic Regulation, Identity, extrinsic motivation and motivation in sports according to the national status, and this difference is in the direction of national athletes. It is understood that the mental well-being and sports ability levels of national athletes are better and the nationality status is seen as a determining variable. Although there was no significant difference in the total score of motivation in sports according to the sports branches, it was determined that the football players were better motivated with a difference in the sub-dimensions.It is understood that the sports ability and mental well-being levels of footballer women are better and meaningful. It has been determined that as the level of motivation in sports increases, the level of sports ability and mental well-being also increase. Suggestions in line with the results of the research are explained below.