Comparison of functions of observational learning in male and female Taekwondo Elite and Non-elite athletes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex, skill level and age on functions of observational learning in Taekwondo athletes. 200 Taekwondo athletes (Elite=103, Non-elite=97) with age in the range of 13-38 years old (21.69±4.4) volunteered to answer the Functions of Observational Learning Questionnaire (FOLQ). FOLQ was used to assess 3 functions of observational learning (skill, performance and strategy) in athletes. Factorial analysis results showed no significant difference between male and female athletes, but it was found that elite taekwondo athletes significantly used functions of observational learning more than non-elite athletes (p<0.05). Also, taekwondo athletes firstly used observational learning to improve the skills, followed by strategy and performance, respectively. Furthermore, the results of Pearson correlation demonstrated that there were converse relations between age and using functions of observational learning and the relation between age and performance was significant (p<0.05). It seems that observational learning has different functions in different sport fields and coaches should consider this matter when teaching the athletes. Also the effect of skill level is more than sex variable which coaches may attend this factor. Observational learning should also be used more for athletes that are in lower ages and skill levels.