Relationship between social factors and athletes' behavioral tendencies: mediator role of psychological factors

In the existing literature and conceptualizing the behavior of sports clubs' members, the social-psychological aspects are less considered. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of trust and attachment as two psychological factors in the relationship between social factors and the athletes' tendency to continuous membership of fitness club. The research type was correlational. The population of the study consisted of members of fitness clubs in Shahrood, from which 199 people were selected by multi-stage random sampling. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that includes six part and 25 items, which are: responsibility (three items), ethical climate (five items), interaction quality (five items), place attachment (five items), trust (four items), and tendency to continue membership (three items). The collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling and partial least squares. The results showed that the interaction quality, responsibility, and ethical climate have a positive and significant effect on both athletes' attachment and trust; also, the effect of athletes' attachment on their tendency to continue club membership is significant; however, the effect of trust on athletes' tendency to continue membership is not significant. It seems that meeting the psychological and social needs of club members and creating confidence and inner belonging can be a useful management strategy to strengthen the relationship between club and athletes and maintain them in the long term.