article · Societies
This study examined how passion for sport connects with video gaming motivation and self-reported performance among 624 licensed athletes in Türkiye. Each participant engaged in both a physical sport and a video game corresponding to that same sport. Data were gathered through specialised scales measuring sport passion, sports video game motivation, and perceived task performance in athletic roles, then evaluated through structural equation modelling. The findings reveal that sport passion relates positively to motivation for playing sports-themed video games, as well as to athletes' perceptions of their own task performance. In turn, gaming motivation also demonstrates a positive link with perceived performance, yielding an indirect association between sport passion and task performance via gaming motivation. However, because data were collected in a single self-reported survey, the results show statistical associations rather than proven causal relationships, direct skill transfer, or verified improvements in objective physical ability.
Understanding how athletes interact with sports-themed video games provides insight into contemporary athletic mindsets. Rather than distracting from physical pursuits, playing matched video games correlates positively with both passion for sport and an athlete's self-assessed performance. This helps coaches, researchers, and sports organisations recognise how digital recreation might intersect with athletes' perceived roles and engagement in their physical disciplines.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway or commercial readiness level, as it presents early-stage cross-sectional academic research based solely on self-reported survey data without testing interventions, products, or practical tools.
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This cross-sectional study examined the contemporaneous associations among sport passion, sports-themed video gaming motivation, and perceived sport-role task performance. The sample comprised 624 licensed athletes in Türkiye who reported participating in a physical sport and playing a sports video game that matched that sport. Participants completed the Sport Passion Scale, the Sports Video Game Motivation Scale, and a self-report adaptation of the Task Performance Scale for the sport context. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the specified measurement structure, and structural equation modeling with 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples was used to estimate simultaneous and indirect associations. Sport passion was positively associated with sports-themed video gaming motivation (β = 0.58) and perceived sport-role task performance (β = 0.29), while gaming motivation was positively associated with perceived sport-role task performance (β = 0.35). The standardized indirect association was 0.20; the corresponding unstandardized estimate was B = 0.22, bias-corrected 95% CI [0.15, 0.30]. Because all variables were self-reported in one survey session, the model describes associations and does not establish temporal ordering, causal mediation, transfer from gaming to sport, or improvement in objective athletic performance.
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DOI: 10.3390/soc16080266
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