Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ENERGY EDUCATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PART B-SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, cilt.4, sa.4, ss.1997-2006, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Sport psychology can help the field of general psychology move into a millennium of positive psychology to facilitate the functioning and performance enhancement in sport [1]. However, theory and practice of sport in general and sport psychology in particular, have much to say about stress, anxiety and fear and they have little to say about courage in sport. The purpose of the present study was to research soccer players' courage (i.e., 1. Determination-DT, 2. Mastery-MT/Self-Confidence, 3. Assertiveness-AT, 4. Venturesome-VS and 5. Sacrificial Behavior-SB) according to their playing positions and level of play (i.e., 1-Amateur Goal Keeper-AGK, 2-Professional Goal Keeper-PGK, 3-Amateur Stopper-AST, 4-Professional Stopper-PST, 5-Amateur Full Backs-AFB, 6-Professional Full Backs-PFB, 7-Amateur Midfield-AMF, 8-Professional Midfield-PMF, 9-Amateur Wingers-AWG, 10-Professional Wingers-PWG, 11-Amateur Center Forward-ACF and 12-Professional Center Forward-PCF). The recently developed "Sport Courage Scale-31" [2] and the "Information Form" for related positional variables were administered to 542 amateur and professional male soccer players (amateur = 366, professional = 174) aged 13-23 (Mean Age = 16.35, SD = 2.46) with a mean of 4.70 years of licensed playing experience (SD=3.00). The data were analyzed by Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney Test. The results indicated the significant differences between Sport Courage Scale-31 points of amateur and professional soccer players according to their playing positions related to MT [chi 2 (11) = 26.68, p < 0.005] and total scores [chi 2 (11) = 23.12, p < 0.017], and no significant differences as regard with DT, AT, VS and SB (p > 0.05). Comparative analysis using the Mann Whitney Test yielded that: 1) Amateur Stopper, Professional Stopper, Amateur Full Backs, Amateur Midfield, Amateur Wingers, Amateur Center Forward and Professional Center Forward players have higher Mastery points than Amateur Goal Keeper players. 2) Professional Stopper and Professional Center Forward players have higher Total scores than Amateur Goal Keeper players. 3) Amateur Stopper, Professional Stopper, Amateur Full Backs, Professional Full Backs and Professional Center Forward players have higher total points than Professional Goal Keeper players. 4) Professional Stopper players have higher Total points than Professional Full Backs, Professional Midfield and Professional Wingers players. 5) Professional Center Forward players have higher Total points than Professional Full Backs, Professional Midfield and Professional Wingers players. 6) Amateur Midfield players have higher Total points than Professional Midfield players. More research is needed for conclusive results related Courage and Playing Positions using different lining ups and performance measures in Soccer.