Comparison of regular physical exercisers and sedentary graduate students in terms of automatic thoughts

Abstract

This research is an experimental study. The sample group of the research is 200 graduate students in various departments of Mug la University including 92 females and 108 males whose age ranges between 18 and 27. The researcher developed and used a Personal Information Form and the Automatic Thoughts Scale with a view to acquire data for his research. The scale is composed of five factors: one's emotions and thoughts about himself, his astonishment and fantasies of escape, personal maladjustment and wish for change, solitude and isolation and finally despair. Data analysis is performed through SPSS 16.00 Package Software. The comparison of the groups is made by independent t-test and Tukey test with a view to find out the variance analysis and where the difference sterns from if there are more than two groups. While the results prove that a regular physical exercise positively contributes to the automatic thoughts, the department and level of income are important factors. Gender does not make any difference in this case.