Investigation of life satisfaction and exercise perceptions of university students according to exercise behavior

Doing regular sport and exercise from chilhood to adoloscence and from adolescence to age is great importance in terms of protecting body health. Individuals` perception about exercise as well as doing it affect their life satisfaction. This study was conducted to examine the perceptions of university student about life satisfaction and exercise according to exercise behavior change step. In this study, one of the descriptive research methods, general screening model, was used.General survey model which is one of the descriptive research methods was used in this research. The scope of this study consists of the students of Namik Kemal University. Sample group consists of 726 females, 588 males 1314 students who are studying in the faculties and vocational schools in the central campus and have been determined using layering method and simple random technique. In the study; Exercise Barrier / Benefit Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale, Exercise Behavior Change Questionnaire were applied to the participants. In addition, personal information form developed by the researcher was applied to the participants to obtain information about age, gender, smoking status, sport back ground of the family and monthly expenditure. SPSS 18 package program was used for data analysis, Mann-Whitney-U test was used for non-parametric data and Kruskal Wallis tests were used for multiple comparisons. The Cronbach-Alpha internal consistency coefficient of the study was found to be 0,89. According to our findings; There is significant difference between the total scores of exercise perception and exercise behavior change. When the total perception of exercise scores are evaluated, "Trend, Preparation, Movement, Continuity" and "Pre-trend" factors are in favor of "Trend, Preparation, Movement, Continuity". There was also a significant difference between life satisfaction and exercise behavior change. Key Words: Life Satisfaction, Exercise Perception, Exercise Behavior Change Step, University Student.