Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study was to prove that practicing competitive sports has a positive impact on coping with problem situations, as well as to check whether gender is a determinant of a better or worse coefficient of active stress management.
Methods
The study covered 100 people (50 who trained competitively in martial arts and 50 who did not train). The respondents were asked to complete the “CISS Questionnaire” by Endler and Parker, consisting of 48 statements regarding the behavior that people undertake in difficult situations.
Results
The predominant style of coping with stress among the respondents was task-focused (79% of respondents). In task-focused style people practicing competitive martial arts obtained a higher average score (65 points) than non-training people (61 points), including men – 64 points and women – 62 points. In the emotion-focused style, trained people achieved a score of 40 points, while non-trained people scored an average of 45 points. According to the division into men and women, men scored 39 points and women 46 points, which is a very big difference. When it comes to the avoidance style, professional athletes achieved an average score of 44 points, and people from the general population – 45 points (men 44 points, women 46 points).
Conclusions
People who train competitively in martial arts cope better with problematic situations. It is worth thinking about this type of physical activity if you want to practice sports professionally and try sports competition. Men show a higher rate of task-focused style, and women show a higher emotion-focused style.