Abstract

The present research was conducted in order to compare self-esteem of American students with Turkish students in terms of the sport participation at the universities. For this purpose, a total of 460 students (Mage=19,61±1,64) voluntarily participated in the study from two universities. As data collection tool, Rosenberg (1965) Self-esteem Scale was used to determine scores of the self-esteem in relation to participants. There was a significant statistically difference in self-esteem between students doing sports and those not doing sports  in both countries (0,001, p<0.05). There was a significant statistically difference between American and Turkish students in terms of the sport participation (0,001, p>0.05). These findings were evaluated and discussed in terms of the self-esteem of university students.

Key words: Self-esteem, sport participation, students.