Fabian PelsSportpartizipation und Einsamkeit –
Die Bedeutung der Gruppenidentifikation und des sozialen Wohlbefindens im Sport

About this book deutschenglish

With this book, the author purposes the goal of addressing the link between sport participation and experience of loneliness. Within this context, the reader is introduced to an overview regarding previous research projects. Subsequently, three studies with different designs will be presented, being based on the current state of research. The first study, being of a cross-sectional design, shows that physically active people are as lonely as the total population in general. In conjunction with the second, longitudinal study, this study suggests that the experience of loneliness of physically active people is influenced by the social well-being being present in a sports group: those, that feel involved within their sports group, report to be less lonely, compared to those that feel less involved within the group. The third, experimental study revealed that social well-being is particularly present in particular, when the conducted tasks within sport groups are of a cooperative nature. Aiming to reduce the experience of loneliness, it seems advisable to engage in physical activities that foster cooperation and engagement with others.