Correlation between sports participation and self-esteem among University of the Philippines Manila students

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the relationship between sports participation and general self-esteem among University of the Philippines Manila students. Two hundred and twenty-three (223) UP Manila students were purposively selected to participate in this study. Upon obtaining their informed consent, a survey questionnaire that collected information about their participation in different extracurricular activities (both sports and non-sports) and measured their level of self-esteem using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), was administered. In-depth individual interviews with a number of survey respondents supplied richer information about the perceived impact of sports participation on self-esteem among UP Manila students. The quantitative data was analyzed using statistical techniques in SPSS. The results indicated that there was a positive but weak correlation between sports participation and selfesteem. Sports participants were also found to have significantly higher self-esteem than nonparticipants. It was also found that frequency of participation in sports activities and type of sports participation (competitive or recreational) were not significant variables in the relationship between sports participation and self-esteem among UP Manila students. Only the type of sports (team or individual) was found to make a significant impact in the self-esteem of participants, with team sports as being significantly more associated with high level of self-esteem. Furthermore, results of the study suggest that sports participation is independently associated with high self-esteem, meaning, even without participation in other non-sports extracurricular activities, sports participants have high self-esteem. The qualitative part of the study found that sports participation among UP Manila students is usually rooted from early childhood, and parents play a major role as initiator of participation. Social factors such as meeting new people, having fun and bonding time with coplayers or friends, establishing teamwork and camaraderie, intrinsic factors such as love for the sport and personal enjoyment, and functional goals such as to slim down perceived fat body, to relieve stress, and to improve self and ones skills were the primary reasons for the continued participation in sports. Perceived positive effect of sports participation on self-esteem are derived from past experience of recognition, interaction with different kinds of people, sense of accomplishment for getting through exhausting training and bouncing back from losses, and formation of caring and genuine relationship with teammates. On the other hand, perceived negative effect of sports participation on self-esteem are derived from past experience of receiving insufficient support from crowd during games, getting compared to others, losing, not performing well at the onset of participation in a new sport, and receiving bad treatment from coplayers.