Physical Self-Perception of Elite Athletes and Nonathletes: A Turkish Sample

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical self-perception and sports participation by comparing physical self-perception in a sample of elite Turkish athletes and a nonathletic control group. A total of 329 elite athletes from variety of sports at the national level ( nmen = 207; Mage=19.1 yr., SD = 3.3 and nwomen = 122; Mage = 18.5 yr., SD = 3.6) and 469 nonathletic university students ( nmen = 275; Mage = 20.8, SD = 1.6 and nwomen = 194; Mage = 20.7 yr., SD=1.7) voluntarily participated and answered the Physical Self-perception Profile. Scores for the elite athletes were significantly different from those of nonathletes on self-perception in all psychomotor subdomains. Further, physical self-perception of athletes and nonathletes also differed with regard to their sex.