The role of sport type in athletes' self-compassion and defense mechanisms

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of the type of sport in self-compassion and defense mechanisms of athletes. The current study was a comparative study. In this research, 210 student athletes (100 group members and 110 individual members) with an age range of 20 to 30 years were selected and completed the self-compassion and defense mechanisms questionnaire. The data was analyzed through the statistical test of one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that there was a significant difference only in the subscale of human commonality among the factors of group and individual athletes' self-compassion So that group athletes felt less human commonality. There was no significant difference between group and individual athletes in adopting defense mechanisms and the athletes used defensive styles in a consolidated manner. Based on the findings of this research, it can be said that the absence of an atmosphere of support for members in group sports can neutralize the advantage and superiority of the social context of this type of sports compared to individual sports in the process of coping and adaptation. It seems that participating in sports competitions can improve the mood of athletes and then their level of self-compassion will increase, and according to the integrated use of defensive styles by athletes in an adaptive way, sports psychologists with self-compassion interventions They can provide a platform for creating new coping styles, improving mindfulness and quick psychological recovery after failure for vulnerable athletes.