Comparative Study between Sports and Non-Sports Persons on The Basis of Emotional Maturity and Locus of Control

Abstract

The impact of emotions in the life of a sportsperson cannot be neglected. Sports directs not only our physical energy but our emotional energy as well. Sports as an area include different social skills with both positive and negative emotions. The expression of those emotions depends also on the attribution style of the individual. Locus of control as studied is one such personality factor which defines individual’s perception of events to be caused by internal or external factors. Locus of control focuses on our ability to cope with uncertainty. Locus of control may impact how an individual deals with the stressful situations and how they deal with success and failures when involved in sports.  The aim of the study was to compare emotional maturity and locus of control of students involved in sports and not involved in sports. A sample size of 100 students; 50 for each group (sports and non-sports) were selected. Sports person were those who have participated in inter college and inter university competitions. Non-sports were those who did not participate in any sports activity. The average age of all the participants was between 18-22 years. To collect the required data for present study ‘Emotional Maturity Questionnaire’ prepared by Singh and Bhargava (1988) was administered, and locus of control questionnaire by Rotter’s (1966) was administered. Statistical analysis to compare the data of both the groups was done using t-test. The result revealed that there is a significant difference between students involved in sports and not involved in sports on the basis of emotional maturity but no significant difference on the basis of locus of control.