Investigation of the effect of sport orientation preferences on fear of pandemic

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of pandemic fear on sports orientation preferences. While selecting the sample of the research, G-Power analysis was used and 748 people were reached. Within the scope of the study; the personal information form prepared by the researcher and the Corona virus-19 Phobia scale developed by Arpacı, Karataş and Baloğlu adapted to Turkish in 2020 have been used. Data were collected by random sampling method. IBMM SPSS 23.0 package program was used in the analysis of the obtained data. In statistical analyses, Independent Sample T Test was used in paired comparisons, ANOVA in multiple comparisons, and Post Hoc Tukey analysis was used to examine whether there was a relationship between variables. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the participants' somatic (p<0.05), economic (p<0.05) and psychological (p<0.05) sub-dimensions depending on gender. Depending on age; a significant difference was found in somatic (p<0.001), social (p<0.05), economic (p<0.01), psychological (p<0.05) sub-dimensions and total mean scores (p<0.001). Depending on the educational status; it was determined that there was a significant difference between the somatic (p<0.01) sub-dimension. Depending on the profession; it was determined that there was a significant difference between the somatic (p<0.01) sub-dimension. Depending on the participation in sports; a significant difference was found in somatic (p<0.001), social (p<0.01), economic (p<0.001), psychological (p<0.001) sub-dimensions and total mean scores (p<0.001). Depending on the level of participation in sports; a significant difference was found in somatic (p<0.01), economic (p<0.05), psychological (p<0.05) sub-dimensions and total mean scores (p<0.01). Depending on the licensed sports background; a significant difference was found in somatic (p<0.01), psychological (p<0.05) sub-dimensions, and total mean score (p<0.05). Depending on the way of participating in sports during the pandemic process; significant differences were found in somatic (p<0.001), social (p<0.01), economic (p<0.01), psychological (p<0.001) sub-dimensions and total score averages (p<0.001). Due to chronic illness; a significant difference was found in the somatic (p<0.05) sub-dimension. As a result of the analysis, some negative situations were observed in individuals as a result of changing physical and mental inactivity during the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the rapid spread of the virus, the fear of getting infected with the virus has affected individuals both psychologically and physically, and this has caused individuals to change their orientation to sports in different directions. Keywords: Sport, Pandemic, Corona Virus, Corona Virus Epidemic