Investigation of esports participation motivations of university students who took esports

Abstract

This study aims to examine the motivations of university students taking esports courses to participate in esports. Our research is applied in terms of basic philosophy, explanatory in terms of purpose, quantitative and survey in terms of method, cross-sectional in terms of duration, and group in terms of unit of analysis. A purposive sampling technique was used in sample selection. A total of 60 students, 3 (6.1%) female and 46 (93.9%) male, who took Esports courses in the fall and spring semesters of 2022-2023, participated in the study voluntarily. The Esports Participation Motivation Scale and a demographic information form consisting of 11 questions were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed in the SPSS 25 package program. After descriptive statistical calculations were made since the data did not show normal distribution, the Mann-Whitney U Test was used for variables with 2 groups in independent variables, and the Kruskall-Wallis H Test was used for variables with 3 or more groups. The significance level was taken as 0.05. According to the results of an in-group comparison of students' esports participation motivation scale scores; a statistically significant difference was found according to the variables of monthly income level, preferred game type, father's education level, and the belief of obtaining critical gains related to esports by taking esports courses at university (p<0.05). As a result, it was determined that university students' motivation to participate in esports differed according to some variables.