The Role of Sports Participation in the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Career Awareness: A Research Study on University Students

The aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between emotional intelligence levels and career awareness levels of university students and to examine the role of sports participation in this relationship. Quantitative research method was used in the study. The research data were collected through demographic data form, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire–Short Form and Career Awareness Scale. The population of the study consisted of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University students, and the sample consisted of 391 students selected from the population by simple random method. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0, JASP and JAMOVI statistical package programs. Descriptive statistics, Two-Factor Analysis of Variance and Simple Linear Regression Analysis were used in the research analysis. According to the analysis results, positive significant relationships were found between emotional intelligence and career awareness, and emotional intelligence accounted for 31% of the variance in career awareness scores. It was determined that students with high emotional intelligence levels had significantly higher career awareness levels than other students. Additionally, it has been determined that participation in sports has a positive and significant effect on career awareness. Although emotional intelligence and sports participation are separately significant predictors of career awareness, the interaction effect between emotional intelligence and sports participation was not found to be statistically significant. This indicates that the combined influence of these two variables does not contribute additional explanatory power in predicting career awareness beyond their separate effects.Keywords: Career Awareness, Emotional Intelligence, Higher Education, Sport Participation, University Students.