Relationship Between Leisure Time and Self-regulation and Goal Orientation among Professional Athletes: A New Perspective for Improving Athletes’ Physical Performance

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between leisure time and self-regulation and goal orientation among professional athletes. This study was an applied research using survey to collect data. Standard questionnaires were used to measure leisure time, self-regulation and goal orientation. The studied samples included 100 Iranian professional athletes in individual sports (judo and jujutsu) and team sports (handball and basketball) who were selected by selective sampling method. Data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics, one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation and linear regression. Results showed a significant relationship between leisure time and self-regulation and goal orientation of professional athletes. The coefficient of correlation showed a very high and positive relationship between leisure time and self-regulation (α=0.915), between leisure time and goal orientation (α=0.884), and between self-regulation and goal orientation (α=0.921). Considering the significant relationship between these three parameters, it can be concluded that management of leisure time is an important factor in the career of professional athletes. For this purpose, opportunities can be provided for professional athletes to recognize different aspects of leisure time and use them in order to achieve better outcomes.