Investigating the Effective Factors on Social Loafing in Sports Leisure Time of University Students

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting social loafing in sports leisure time of university students in Mashhad (Firdausi Mashhad and Imam Reza). The research method was descriptive-survey in terms of propose and field based in terms of the data collection. The statistical population consisted of male student-athletes of Mashhad universities from which 118 were randomly selected as statistical samples. The research instrument included a researcher-made questionnaire based on research background, the validity of which was assessed by six professors in the field of sports science and its reliability was also assessed by Cronbach's alpha test (0.84). Based on the results, the items of socio-sports loafing for students constitute 50.20% of the total variance and the model for assessing the causes of socio-sports loafing of students, based on the results of factor analysis, has appropriate validity. Moreover, there is a significant correlation between the causes of socio-sports loafing (dodgery, felling of self-inferiority, group characteristics and egocentricity) in students (P <0.01). Furthermore, the results of all factors are higher than the average. Considering the relative importance for each of the studied factors among athlete student, it seems that one of the important reasons for such a fact is the change in lifestyle and the tendency of people to use modern technologies, which reduces the activity of people in society, especially young people, young athletes and young students. Many of these people, due to their strong presence in virtual activities, are less inclined to do group work and are more likely to perform individual actions and achieve their personal goals.