An examination of male psychological well-being in rugby football clubs in the Irish North Midlands

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential causal relationship between participation in sport and psychological well-being. Significant differences were found between participants for perceived stress and self-esteem based upon reported levels of physical activity and sport identification. A geographical cluster study was conducted with 179 male participants. The survey consisted of three measurement scales, the Physical education and training Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in addition to a question for level of physical activity. Descriptive statistics were calculated, Crosstabs and chi-square, bivariate correlations and t tests. The t tests identified significant differences between each of the variables, which were significant at the 1% level. The results supported the hypotheses that there was a significant difference between physical activity and sport identification with both perceived stress and self-esteem.