A Study on the Acquisition of Life Skills for University Athletes —The Relationship between Commitment, Enthusiasm and Stressor—

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the acquisition of life skills, stressor, commitment, and enthusiasm in university athletes. The subjects consisted of 272 college athletes (228 males and 44 females) with a mean age of 19.9 (SD=1.15) who completed a questionnaire composed of the following socio-demographic items: Sport Life Skill Scale, Sport Stressor Scale, Sport Commitment Scale, and Sport Enthusiasm Scale. The results of the correlation analysis showed that both “Commitment” and “Enthusiasm” are positively associated with “Life Skill” (both “Interpersonal Skills” and “Intrapersonal Skills”) and that “Enthusiasm” is positively associated with “Stressor” (r=0.12, p<0.05). In addition, the covariance structural analysis showed that the pass coefficients between “Commitment” and “Life Skill” as well as between “Enthusiasm” and “Life Skill” are statistically significant. Therefore, athletes with high commitment and enthusiasm enhance their life skills in everyday college life and club activities, which implies that sports activities for university students promote life skills even if their activity levels are high.