Self-Handicapping and Self-Esteem Levels of Judokas

The present study was carried out to investigate self-handicapping and self-esteem levels of judokas. The categorical and demographic information of the subjects (N=149) who voluntarily participated were collected. Self-handicapping scale (SHS) adapted into Turkish by Akin (2012) and self-esteem scale (SES) adapted into Turkish by Tukus (2010) were used as online data collection tools. 149 judokas (62 male and 87 female) participated voluntarily. For statistical analysis, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H and Spearman’s rho were conducted where appropriate. The level of significance was set as p .05. As a result, statistically significant differences in the self-handicapping scores of judokas found in the gender, marital status, educational status, income, national athlete status and national athlete variables (p .05). There are statistically significant differences in self-esteem scores in the gender, age, educational status, marital status, national athlete status, international success status, international ranking and training duration variables (p .05). A moderate and negative correlation (p .05) was found between self-handicapping and self-esteem. In conclusion, coaches, club managers and other interested parties should consider their athletes in this context, considering that self-handicapping and self-esteem scores are important indicators in sportive performance as it is very important for long-term performance and healthy sports life. It is recommended to record and periodically follow the self-handicapping and self-esteem levels of the athletes.