An investigation of the effect of sports commitment on sport life satisfaction among university students enrolled in elective sports courses : The case of Karadeniz Technical University

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between sports commitment and sporting life satisfaction among university students who select elective courses in sports sciences from the course pool at Karadeniz Technical University. The study employed the relational survey model, a quantitative research approach. As data collection instruments, a Personal Information Form developed by the researcher, the Sports Commitment Scale developed by Guillén and Martínez-Alvarado (2014) and adapted into Turkish by Kayhan et al. (2020), and the Sporting Life Satisfaction Scale, which was adapted to the sports context by Mangan (2018) based on the Life Satisfaction Scale developed by Diener et al. (1985) and adapted into Turkish by Somoğlu and Cihan (2022), were utilized. The obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS (Version 26) software package. Independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis were employed in data analysis. The research findings revealed that participants' sports commitment scores differed significantly according to gender, sports participation status, and grade level variables, and a positive correlation was found with sports age. Regarding sporting life satisfaction, differences were determined based on gender, sports participation status, and grade level variables, while positive correlations were found with age and sports age. Additionally, positive correlations were identified between the sub-dimensions and total scores of the sports commitment scale and the total score of the sporting life satisfaction scale. In conclusion, a significant relationship was determined between sports commitment and sporting life satisfaction among university students taking elective sports courses.