Sport Motivation, Martial Arts Practice and Violence in Secondary Education Students

Abstract

David Lindell-Postigo, Félix Zurita Ortega, Gabriel González_Valero, Jose Manuel Alonso Vargas*, Manuel Ortiz-Franco and Eduardo Melguizo-Ibáñez

Martial arts are currently considered to encourage violence among its practitioners. This study aims to correlate martial arts practice, violent behaviour and motivation in a sample of secondary school students. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 457 Spanish students (14.49± 1.805). The instruments used were a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Spanish version of the School Violence Scale and the Spanish version of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2). The results show that almost half of the sample practises martial arts, with Pure Relational Aggression being the most common type of violence. It can be concluded that participants who practice martial arts show lower levels of violent behaviour, as well as a sport motivation developed on the basis of intrinsic values.