Examination of Athletic Identity and Perceived Stress Levels of Candidates Taking the Exams for the Faculty of Sports Sciences

The aim of this research is to examine the Athlete Identity and Perceived Stress Levels of Candidates Taking the Faculty of Sports sciences exams. 473 people who applied to the 2023 Ahi Evran University sports department special talent exam were included in the research. A personal information form, 10-item athlete identity scale, and a 4-item perceived stress scale were used. The original text of the Athlete Identity Assessment Scale seven-point Likert-type scale consisting of ten items in total (1= strongly disagree). This scale consists of a single dimension to determine the athlete identities of the participants. In order to determine the perceived stress levels of individuals, the “Perceived Stress Scale” was used. In the Turkish adaptation study of the scale, validity and reliability studies were conducted for the 10-item and 4-item short forms as well as the 14-item long version. As a result of the statistical analyses, while the participants' athlete identity scores did not differ according to the variables of gender, age and economic status, they differed according to the variables of undergraduate and career hope. It was observed that the participants' perceived stress scores did not differ in terms of all variables. It was observed that the participants' athlete identity and perceived stress scores had a low-level negative and significant relationship.