The Mediating Role of Social Media Attitudes in Relation to Online Hate Speech and the Social Safeness and Pleasure of Adolescent Athletes

The study is to explain the relationship between Internet hatred and social security and enjoyment of adolescent athletes with respect to the mediating role of attitudes toward social media. The research method was descriptive-correlation based on structural equations. The statistical population was included all adolescent athletes who some bodies were selected as a sample according to the Morgan table for the unlimited population and the cluster sampling method. In order to collect data after measuring validation and reliability, Gilbert et al.'s (2009) Social Security and Pleasure Questionnaire, Davis Social Media Attitude (1998) and Pachiko and Milhovish (2018) Internet Hate Questionnaires were used. The data analysis was used with descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation test and structural equations) through SPSS and Amos software.The results showed that “Internet hatred” was of a negative effect on “social security and pleasure” with a path coefficient (β=-0/31) and “social media attitude” of adolescent athletes with a path coefficient (β =-0/24) had a significant effect. Also, “social media attitude” was of a positive and significant effect on “social security and pleasure” of adolescent athletes with path coefficient (β=-0/46). Finally, the study of the role of the mediating variable showed that the attitude of social media had an indirect and significant effect on the social security and enjoyment of adolescent athletes due to the spread of Internet hatred. The research findings pave the way for further research in this area, especially the spread of Internet hatred.