Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the formation model of sports commitment in its relation to sports participation and persistency by investigating the dynamics of relationships between social supports and athletic identity, athletic identity and sports commitment, and social supports and sports commitment. The participants were 250 collegiate athletes (males : 169 females : 81) . They completed questionnaires (Social Support Scale for Sports, Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, Sports Commitment Scale) . In examining the relationships between sports commitment, athletic identity and social supports by regression analysis, it was found that there were significant relationships between sports commitment and athletic identity, and athletic identity and social supports. On the other hand, there was no significance between sports commitment and social supports. Therefore, this study hypothesized the original theoretical model that social supports described the formation of athletic identity and athletic identity was the predictor variable for formation of sports commitment. The results of the Structural Equation Model (SEM) demonstrated goodness of fit and validity of the original formation model of sports commitment. The results of this study indicated that the formation process of sports commitment effects competitive sports participation and persistency. In addition, this study showed significant differences in the formation process for sports commitment between female and male collegiate athletes.
