The evaluation of lateral thinking tendencies in students of the faculty of sports sciences

This study aimed to examine the lateral thinking abilities of sports sciences students across various variables. The sample consisted of 270 students—120 males and 150 females—from the Faculties of Sports Sciences at Gazi University, Ankara University, and Hacettepe University. Data were collected using a demographic information form prepared by the researchers along with the Lateral Thinking Inclination Scale developed by Semerci (2016). Prior to analysis, skewness and kurtosis values were evaluated to test for normality, and the data were found to be normally distributed. SPSS 25.0 was employed for statistical analysis. T-tests were used to compare lateral thinking inclination levels between two groups, while ANOVA was applied for comparisons among more than two groups based on participants’ demographic characteristics. The findings did not reveal any statistically significant differences in total lateral thinking inclination scores with respect to gender, age, department, or family income status. Despite the absence of statistically significant differences, previous studies have demonstrated that lateral thinking inclination serves as an important indicator of students’ future planning and problem-solving abilities.