Investigation of the Relationship between Coping Through Humor and Trait Anxiety Levels of Sports Sciences Faculty Students

Our study aims to examine the relationship between university students' levels of coping through humor and their perceived stress levels. As data collection tools in the study, “The Humor Coping Scale”developed by Martin (1996) and adapted to Turkish by Yerlikaya (2009) and “Trait Anxiety Inventory-STAI Form TX-II” developed by Spielberg et al. (1964) and adapted to Turkish by Öner and Le Compte (1983) were used as data collection tools. The population of the research consists of students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences, and the sample group consists of 135 students who continue their education at Kütahya Dumlupınar University Faculty of Sports Sciences in the 2022-2023 academic year, selected by convenience sampling method. Is there a significant relationship between students' levels of coping with humor and their trait anxiety levels? In order to answer the research question, Pearson correlation coefficients were examined to determine whether there was a relationship among the total scores obtained by the students from the Humorous Coping Scale and the Trait Anxiety Scale. In addition, reliability analysis was applied and Cronbach alpha values were calculated to determine whether the scales used were valid and reliable. According to the research results; It was determined that there was a significant negative relationship between the level of coping with humor and trait anxiety levels of students of the faculty of sports sciences. After is trait anxiety a significant predictor of sports science faculty students' levels of coping through humor? Linear regression analysis was applied to get an answer to the research question. According to the analysis results, it was determined that the perceived anxiety level was a negative and significant predictor of sports science faculty students' ability to cope with humor. As a result, it was determined that students' trait anxiety levels decreased in their daily routine lives when coping skills through humor increased. It could be thought that humor plays an effective role in making students less affected by anxiety.