Investigation of the relationship between volunteer motivation and leisure satisfaction level in international sport organizations

Recently, sports events which have gradually grown in terms of popularity both in our country and in the world offer opportunities for individuals to become a part of events in the leisure. Furthermore, this situation creates a significant human resource for hosting cities and countries with the voluntary participation support of individuals. In the recent studies carried out in the literature, it is shown that the notion of volunteer which has been examined through many dimensions of Serious Leisure Perspective that is related to Self-Determination Theory is an inevitable component of international sport organizations. It is thought that sports volunteers contribute to the organizations as well as organizations contribute to sports volunteers. The aim of this study is to compare the relationship between the motivation factors of the volunteers taking part in international sports organizations with their level of leisure satisfaction; and to examine them in terms of different demographic variables. In the light of this, it is aimed to contribute to the development of the voluntary participation, which has a great significance in the realization of international sport organizations, in terms of motivation and leisure satisfaction. In the study, descriptive and correlational survey models of quantitative research method were used. As data collection tool, demographic information for prepared by the researcher as well as "Volunteer Motivation for International Sports Events Scale" consisting of 25 items and "Leisure Satisfaction Scale" consisting of 24 items were used. The sample of the study consists of 99 female and 168 male, 267 sport volunteers in total whose mean age is 24,00 (±7,299) determined by purposive cum convenience sampling method; the volunteers participated in the 25th Balkan Indoor Athletics Championship, the 41st Vodafone İstanbul Marathon, UEFA Super Cup 2019 Finals and the 31st Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race. The obtained data shows that patriotism, interpersonal relations and career orientation factors are highly motivating factors while the most important motivation factors of the individuals participating in international sport events as volunteers are expressing values and love of sports. On the other hand in terms of leisure satisfaction levels of the voluntary participants, while it is seen that the most significant factors are physical and educational dimensions, it can also be said that respectively social and psychological factors are significant in terms of leisure satisfaction levels of the voluntary participants. Moreover, overall motivational and overall satisfaction levels of the participants are found high. When the t-test results are examined, a significant difference was found in the sub-scale of expression of values in terms of gender variable and motivation factors. However, no significant difference was found in the leisure satisfaction levels of the participants in terms of gender variable. When MANOVA test results are examined, it can be said that sports involvement variable has an effect on the motivation and leisure satisfaction levels of the voluntary participants. Correlation test results reveal that there is a significant correlation between motivation factors and leisure satisfaction levels of the individuals taking part in voluntary event in the international sport organizations. Also, when the regression analysis results are examined, it is seen that interpersonal relations and extrinsic rewards variables are significant predictors of leisure satisfaction. When motivation and leisure satisfaction approaches are considered along with the study results and the current literature, it is thought that there is a strong link between leisure satisfaction and motivation factors of the individuals taking part in the international sport organizations. It is also thought that the study carried out with the aim of examining the motivation factors and leisure satisfaction levels of the individuals taking part in the international sport organizations will have important contributions to the literature.