Investigation of the relationship between level of satisfaction and thwarting of basic psychological needs and aggressiveness in sport

The purpose of the study was twofold; to determine the predictive effect of satisfaction and thwarting of basic psychological needs on aggressiveness in sports, and to investigate gender and professionalism variables' effect on aggressiveness. The study was carried out with a correlational survey method and the sample group consisted of 434 college students who were actively involved in sports as licensed athletes. Pearson correlation test and structural equation modeling analyses were employed to investigate the relationship between the variables, and independent samples t-test analyses were applied to examine the difference between the aggression levels of the athletes according to gender or professionalism and amateurism status. The findings show that there is a significant relationship between all sub-dimensions of satisfaction and thwarting of basic needs in sport and aggression in sport, and there is a significant relationship between all sub-dimensions except the competence sub-dimension of the Basic Needs Satisfaction in Sport Scale and anger in sport. It was detected that the satisfaction of basic needs accounted for 15% of the total variance of aggression in sport, the thwarting of basic needs accounted for 21% of the total variance and the two variables together accounted for 23% of the total variance of aggression in sport, and they were determined to be significant predictors. Moreover, significant differences were found in the aggression levels of athletes according to their gender and, professionalism and amateurism status.