Investigation of the effect of future expectations and anxiety on academic motivation of students studying in sport sciences

In this study, the effects of future expectation and future anxiety on academic motivation and the relationships between these variables were examined. Another aim of the research is to examine how demographic variables affect the motivation of physical education and sports students. A total of 300 people, who are students in the Faculty of Sports Sciences, Kütahya Dumlupınar University, participated in this study. Participants were selected through random sampling without using any exclusion criteria. Participants were evaluated with personal information form, Future Expectation Scale, Future Anxiety Scale and Academic Motivation Scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were used to test the reliability of the research scales. As a result of the normality tests applied, Independent sample t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to examine the differences between groups, and LSD test was used for multiple comparisons. Pearson correlation analysis test was used to examine the relationship between the research scales and Hayes PROCESS analysis was used to measure the mediation effect. According to the results of the study, it is found that future expectation had a direct effect on academic motivation, but not an indirect effect through future anxiety. However, although there is a statistically significant and strong relationships between total scores of future expectation and the total scores of the academic motivation scale and its sub-scales, the significant relationships between the total scores of the future anxiety scale and its sub-scales and the total scores of the academic motivation scale and its sub-scales are at a low level. In addition, the total score of the academic motivation scale shows a significant difference for the department, while the total scores of the academic motivation scale and sub-scales total scores do not differ significantly in terms of other demographic variables.