Examination of perceived social support and sports specific success motivation of children attending swimming education

The The aim of this study was to examine the levels of perceived social support and achievement motivation among boys and girls engage in swimming, and to compare the obtained data with other studies in the literature. The sample of the study consisted of 260 voluntary participants, including 137 girls and 123 boys who are swimmers. After providing information about the study, participation was conducted on a voluntary basis. In line with the aim of this research, the relational scanning method, which aims to determine the presence and/or degree of co-variation between two or more variables, and the causal comparative scanning method, which aims to determine the reasons for a naturally occurring situation or event and the variables that affect these reasons or the outcomes of an effect, were utilized. The data were collected through the survey technique, and online data collection was carried out based on voluntary participation. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 software package. As a result, when examined according to gender variables, statistically significant differences were found in the perceived social support scale in the dimensions of family, friends, and significant others. When the levels of perceived social support and its sub-dimensions were examined according to age variables, a statistically significant difference was found in the family sub-dimension. Similarly, when examined according to educational status variables, a statistically significant difference was found in the family sub-dimension of perceived social support and its sub-dimensions. In terms of swimming background variables, a statistically significant difference was found in the sub-dimension of assertiveness motivation. When the levels of perceived social support and its sub-dimensions were evaluated according to the variable of frequency of engaging in sports, a statistically significant difference was found in the family sub-dimension. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between perceived social support and sport-specific achievement motivation.