Left over from sports: Leisure motivation in predicting quality of life in male athletes

Abstract

The study, which was conducted to examine the effect of leisure motivation on the quality of life of male athletes in the time periods left over from their sports, included 283 athletes. The data were collected with a face-to-face questionnaire form, and the Leisure Motivation Scale and the The World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version scale were used to collect the data. In the study, which was prepared in the relational survey model, the data were tested with descriptive analysis and parametric tests. The findings showed that the participants’ leisure motivation was above average, and their quality of life was high. While the age groups of the participants and the measurement tools did not differ, statistically significant differences were determined between the measurement tools and their perceived income, whether their sport branch was an individual or a team sport, their daily leisure time duration, and their selfevaluation of whether they spend their leisure time efficiently. At the same time, it was determined that there were significant positive relationships between leisure motivation and quality of life and that leisure motivation affected quality of life by 31%. As a result, the above findings support the conclusion that athletes can increase their quality of life by increasing their leisure motivation in the time they have left from playing sports. In the study, research findings were discussed with the support of the literature.