E-Sports Participation Motivation from the Perspective of Faculty of Sports Sciences Students

It is well known that the concept of e-sports has undergone significant development today. E-sports is a branch of sport based on online games. As a professional activity, it is equated with competitive activity.

The aim of the study is to determine the motivation of the students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences to participate in e-sports.

The research group of the study consists of volunteer students with an average age of 20.15±2.57 years, studying at the sports science faculties of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, Gazi University, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, and Kırıkkale Universities. The participants consist of a total of 265 university students, 105 of whom are female and 160 of whom are male. The E-Sports Participation Motivation Scale (EKMS) developed by Öz and Üstün (2019) was used to collect data.

As a result of the study, it was found that there was a significant difference in favor of women only in the competence sub-dimension of the gender variable in the motivation to participate in e-sports (p<0.05). while the region of residence, monthly income, and ownership of a personal device had no influence on the motivation to participate in e-sports was achieved.

The number of studies in the field of e-sports is increasing every day. It is inevitable that these studies will contribute to the development and spread of e-sports. The increase of more comprehensive and qualitative research-based approaches in this field will contribute to the popularity of e-sports and the diversity of application areas.