Comparison of Anxiety and Narcissism Levels ofDifferent Performance Groups in Female HandballPlayers

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare the anxiety and narcissism levels of different performancegroups in female handball players.Methods: A total of 59 athletes between the ages of 15 and 37 participated in the study, taking thefirst 4 places from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus senior women handball 1st league in the2017-2018 season. Wingate peak power (WPP), Wingate average power (WAP), handball agility test(HAST), 10 m speed (10S), 20 m speed (20S), 20m shuttle run (SR), hands on waist vertical jump (HEVJ),hands free vertical jumping (HFVJ) test, Beck anxiety scale (BAI), 5-factor narcissism scale—short form(FFNI-SF), and sociodemographic data form were used. The athletes were divided into upper perfor mance (UPG) and lower performance groups (LPG) using the median value according to the results ofthe physical measurement tests (FST).Results: It was determined that the anxiety level of the participants in the LPG group was higherthan that in the UPG group. The narcissism level of the participants in the UPG group was found to behigher than that in the LPG group. The scores of consent seeking, arrogance, leader/authority, insecu rity, claiming rights, exhibitionism, carelessness, lack of empathy, and adventurousness were higherthan LPG. In the correlation analysis, a positive and low level of relationship between anxiety and 20Sand a negative and low level of significant relationship between HEJV were found. It was observedthat there was a positive and low level significant relationship between narcissism and WPP, HFJV,and HEJV. It has been revealed that anxiety and narcissism variables have a predictive effect on thephysical performance average score. Conclusion: The findings suggest that in female handball players, high levels of narcissism may af fect the performance positively and high anxiety levels negatively. As a result of this study, it wasrevealed that anxiety and narcissism have a predictive effect on physical performance average scorein women's handball.