A Comparison Between Sports Motivation and Social Physique Anxiety between Blind and Visually Impaired Elite Athletes in Individual and Team Sports

Sports psychology literature shows that motivation is essential in individual and team sports. This study compares sports motivation and Social Physique Anxiety (SPA)between blind and visually impaired elite athletes in individual and team sports.

The study is comparative in terms of design. The population was Iranian professional blind and visually impaired athletes in 2021. The sample includes N=110, n=35 in team sports (football and Goalball) and n=75 in individual sports (swimming, chess, wrestling, athletics), selected by convenience sampling method. The research tool was Sport Motivation Scale (SMS-18) and Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS). Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t-test and analysis of variance) are used to analyze the data with SPSS 24.

The results show a significant difference between the stimulating experience of athletes in individual and group sports in sports motivation components (P<0.05), and no significant difference is observed for other research variables (P>0.05). Also, the analysis of variance showed no significant difference between the elite athletes in individual and team sports in terms of sports motivation (P = 0.982) and SPA (P = 0.937).

It is suggested that the factors affecting the motivation of sports participation of blind athletes in other sports should be examined. We need to focus more on programs that reduce SPA in blind and visually impaired athletes.