Examining Media Literacy Levels and Personality Traits of Physical Education and Sports Students According to Certain Demographic Variables

ABSTRACT

The present study aims to examine the media literacy and personality traits of physical education and sports students according to certain demographic variables. 197 volunteering students of 80 females and 117 males who studied at Sakarya University Faculty of Sports Sciences and Bartın University Physical Education and Sports College in 2016-2017 academic years participated in the study. In order to define the students’ personality traits “Ten-item Personality Scale” (TPS) was used. In order to define media literacy, “Media Literacy Level Identification Scale” was used. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out through Kruskal Wallis H Test, Mann Whitney U Test and Spearman Correlation Test in the SPSS 22.0 program. The analyses showed a significance level of p<0,05. The results of the study showed that media literacy levels of the students was average and media literacy levels did not differ significantly according to their gender and age group variables (p>0.05). When the students’ personality traits were examined, personality trait of openness to experiences was average and the other personality traits were above average. When gender variable was taken into consideration, male students had significantly more openness to experience in their personality traits than female students (p<0.05); while according to the age group variable, 20 year-old students had more responsible personality than 19 year-old students (p<0.05). Additionally, there was a positively significant relationship between the students’ personality traits and their media literacy (p<0.05). As a result, gender and age variables were not important determiners; whereas age and gender variables influenced the personality traits. The findings revealed that university students’ age and gender influenced their personality traits; while they did not influence the students’ media literacy. Additionally, there was a statistically significant relationship between the students’ personality traits and their media literacy. For future studies, suggestions could include a number of different variables that influence personality traits and media literacy of university students such as various age groups, school types, locations and parent attitudes; comparing electronics they have, digital media tools, etc to demographic variables.