Determination of the assertiveness level of water polo athletes

Assertiveness is described as the ability to defend one's own rights, have a place in society, obtain reputation, begin, continue and finish speaking without despising other people while respecting their rights. Due to their positions, the athletes are expected to be assertive individuals, because sports, which allow the individuals to gain freedom, also teach the individuals to use their mental capabilities, decision making abilities, energies and social characteristics to the fullest extent. In this regard, water polo constitutes one of the most special areas of sports due to its ability to allow individuals to use both physical capabilities and mental abilities. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics and assertiveness of adult water polo athletes who are above the age of 18. The study was conducted on 191 water polo athletes playing water polo in various sports clubs in Turkey who became entitled to take part in Turkey Adult Men Championship hold by Turkey Polo Federation alongside with 268 students who do not play any sports. Athletes and students joining to study are above 18. In this study, survey method which is one of the applied research methods is preferred. Data collecting tool consists of 2 parts. In first part ''Personal Information Form''perabed by the researcher and in second part Rathus Assertiveness Schedule developed by Rathus (1973) were used. For the analysis of acquired data SPSS 22.0 program was used. Datas' relevancy to normal distribution was tested with Kolmogorov Smirnov Test of Normality. In the conclusion of not being far from normal distribution, in comparison of two-groups t test, three or more gruoups analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. It has been determined that the average value for the water polo athletes regarding Rathus Assertiveness Schedule was 16.95, while the average value for the students was 2.58. It has been determined that 38.7 % of the athletes had nonassertive behavior, while 61.3% of them had an assertive type of behavioral pattern. It has been determined that 39.2 % of the students (the control group) had a nonassertive behavioral pattern, while 60.8% of them had assertive behavioral pattern. It has been determined that the level of assertiveness of the water polo athletes were higher than that of the individuals who do not play any sports. Statistically, no significant relationship was found between the socio-demographic data (age, type of school, years of playing sports, educational level of parents, number of siblings) and the assertiveness of the water polo athletes and the students. Key Words: Rathus assertiveness schedule, Sports, Water polo.