Evaluation of the Relationship between Self-Esteem and Risk-Taking Behaviors of Students Who Taking Elective Physical Education Course

Abstract

This research was carried out to examine the self-esteem and risk-taking levels of the university students taking elective physical education and sports courses. For this purpose, the self-esteem and risk-taking levels of the university students who participated in the study were examined according to different socio-demographic characteristics and the results obtained were interpreted. 101 students participated in the study who prefered physical education and sports courses as an elective course in Mugla Sitki Kocman University in 2018-2019 fall season. All participants were involved in the study voluntarily. A three-part questionnaire was used as data collection tool in the research. The first part of the research includes the personal information form about the participants, the second part of the research involves "Self-Esteem Scale" and the third part of the research includes the Risk-Taking Scale. Data were analyzed by using SPSS16.0 program. When the results of the research are generally evaluated, there is a significant and negative relationship between self-esteem and risk-taking behavior. It is possible to turn to risk behaviors in order to avoid or deal with negative emotions that arise from low self-esteem, such as feeling worthless and unimportant oneself and not being liked by others.