Investigation of psychological resilience and hope levels in Physical Education and Sports Department teacher candidates

This study aims to determine the psychological resilience and hope levels of prospective teachers in the Department of Physical Education and Sports, to examine the relationship between these two variables and to reveal whether the variables in question show significant differences according to various demographic and individual characteristics. The research was conducted within the framework of the relational screening model, which is a quantitative research method. The universe of the research consists of prospective teachers studying in the Physical Education and Sports departments of five different universities in the 2024-2025 academic year. The sample of the research consisted of 432 students, 184 female and 248 male, who were selected from the universe by simple random sampling method and whose voluntary participation was approved. The data were collected using the personal information form developed by the researcher, the "Short Psychological Resilience Scale" adapted to Turkish by Doğan (2015) and the "Continuous Hope Scale" adapted to Turkish by Tarhan and Bacanlı (2015). SPSS for Windows package program version 25.0 was used for data analysis. Cronbach Alpha analysis was performed to measure the reliability of the scales used in our research. Descriptive statistical techniques (arithmetic mean, frequency and standard deviation) were applied in the data analysis process; t-test for independent samples, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson product-moment correlation were performed to determine the differences between the variables. According to the findings obtained as a result of the analysis, the psychological resilience levels of male teacher candidates were significantly higher than those of women (p<0.05), and individuals with high self-confidence had higher levels of both psychological resilience and hope (p<0.05). It was determined that the psychological resilience levels of students whose income met their expenses were significantly higher (p<0.05). In addition, the increase in the level of happiness and social relations positively affected the levels of psychological resilience and hope; on the other hand, the increase in the number of events that negatively affected life negatively affected both variables (p<0.05). No significant difference was detected in terms of demographic variables other than gender, such as grade level, place of longest residence and hope level (p>0.05). As a result, a positive significant relationship was found between the levels of psychological resilience and hope levels of teacher candidates (p<0.05). This finding reveals that the individual's ability to show resilience and quick recovery in the face of difficulties increases life motivation and future expectations. In this direction, it can be recommended that guidance studies supporting the levels of psychological resilience and hope of teacher candidates in their professional and personal development processes and training programs aimed at strengthening social-emotional skills be disseminated.