Examining autotelic personality and exercise addiction in individuals engaging in fitness and pilates exercise as a recreational activity

The aim of this research is to investigate the levels of autotelic personality and exercise addiction among individuals exercising in fitness and pilates centers. The research sample consists of a total of 307 individuals, with 146 (47.6%) males and 161 (52.4%) females, who exercise in fitness and pilates centers in Afyonkarahisar. The data collection instruments used in the research include a Personal Information Form, Exercise Addiction Scale, and Autotelic Personality Scale. When examining the normality values of the data obtained from the research, the descriptive statistics of the data are presented with the mean and standard deviation for numerical variables, and frequency and percentage analysis for categorical variables. Independent samples t-test is used for comparing the scores obtained from the scales according to categorical variables containing two groups, while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used for categorical variables containing three or more groups. To determine the differences between groups, the Tukey test is applied as a post hoc multiple comparison test after the ANOVA. The relationships between the sub-dimensions of the scales are examined using Pearson correlation analysis. The analyses are conducted using the SPSS program with a significance level set at p<0.05. As a result, it is determined that 97.7% of the participants are in the risky, addicted, and high-risk groups, and they have a high level of exercise addiction. It is also found that individuals with an autotelic personality may be more prone to exercise addiction, males are more exercise-addicted than females, and as individuals' ages and exercise frequency increase, their likelihood of becoming exercise addicts also increases.