Psychological Characteristics of Free Diving Athletes: A Comparative Study
Asst. Prof. Dr. Neşe Alkan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Akış

Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the situational and stable psychological characteristics of free diving athletes. Specifically, stress level, state and trait anxiety, positive and negative affectivity, ways of coping with stress and locus of control among the free diving athletes were studied. 36 were free diving athletes and 41 non-athletes participated in the study. The situational and stable psychological characteristics which influence sport expertise were simultaneously included as dependent variables. Results showed that the scores of the free diving athletes on the state anxiety, stress level and negative affect were significantly lower than that of non-athletes. In addition, the free diving athletes obtained significantly higher scores on internal locus of control and self confident coping style. These results indicated that the free diving sport has positive effects on both situational and stable psychological characteristics.

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