Athletic identity and self-esteem of wheelchair basketball players

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Fizinę negalią turintys asmenys; Pasitikėjimas savimi; Savivaizdis; Savęs vaizdas; Persons with physical disability; Self-confidence; Self-image.

ENBackground. Disabled persons do not consider and use a single identity to represent themselves. Athletic identity as a wheelchair basketball player can help the process of acceptance and support psychological adjustment. Thus, there is a need to research the association between and the influence of the wheelchair basketball player’s qualification and a strong athletic identity on a person’s self-esteem (Hawkins, Coffee, & Soundy, 2014; Martin, Adams-Mushett, & Smith, 1995). Methods. The multidimensional Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (Brewer & Cornelius, 2002) was used to assess self-identity, social identity, exclusivity and negative affectivity of 36 wheelchair basketball players. Selfesteem was evaluated by the adapted V. Stolin’s (Столин, 1983) test including nine self-evaluation scales: internal integrity, self-confidence, self-direction, self-image, self-interest, self-content, self-orientation, self-contradiction and self-accusation. Results. It was found out that the athletic identity value of the players participating in international level competitions (30 points) is statistically significantly higher compared to that of participating in national level events (18 points, p<.05). Conclusions. Disabled persons of the competition group with better athletic identity represented stronger selfintegrity and were less self-accusative, more self-content, their self-confidence grew and they had a better self-image in comparison with the national level group. [From the publication]