THE INTERACTION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY AND PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN FOOTBALL

This study aims to examine the interaction between the social support perceptions of the football players and their social identity. In the research, a descriptive research model based on the relational analysis technique, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study group of the research consists of 210 male football players. According to their level, 32 of the football players are professional, and 178 are amateur athletes. In the research, the perceived available support in sport questionnaire, and social identity questionnaire for sports were used as data collection tools. After applying the normality analysis in the data analysis, the data analysis process has started. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses created in the research. In addition, moderator analysis was applied to evaluate the variables in the research in accordance with the research model. According to the results of the research model, emotional support and esteem support had a significant positive effect on social identity (β2= 0.01* and β2= .009*), and informational and tangible support did not have a significant effect (β2= .524 and β2=.475). In conclusion, it was concluded that social support in sports has a significant effect on social identity (p< 0.01).