The relationship between athletic identity, self-esteem and peer acceptance : a quantitative study amongst University students aged 18-21 years

Abstract

Athletic identity as defined by Brewer, Van Raalte, and Linder (1993) is ―the degree to which an individual identifies with the athletic role‖. This study is aimed to investigate whether athletic identity has an effect on one‘s self-esteem and peer acceptance. It also looked at whether athletic identity, self-esteem and peer acceptance are affected by gender. A total of 182 people partook in this study, 71% females and 29% males. To determine if any relationships were present, the independent samples t-test was used. The test showed that there was no significant relationship between athletic identity and self-esteem; and between athletic identity and peer acceptance. When the Pearson correlation co-efficient test was carried out between self-esteem and peer acceptance, significant positive relationships were found between both self-esteem and communication as well as self-esteem and trust. A significant negative relationship was found between self-esteem and alienation. When athletic identity, self-esteem and peer acceptance were each tested against gender, significant relationships were found with both athletic identity as well as self-esteem, however, no significant relationship was found between gender and peer acceptance. Males scored significantly higher than females on both the athletic identity scale and self-esteem scale.