İtfaiyecilerin Fiziksel Aktivite, Kendini Sabotaj ve Benlik Saygısı Düzeyleri
Physical Activity, Self-handicapping, and Self-esteem Levels of the Firefighters

Summary/Abstract: Firefighting is a profession that is among the most challenging tasks, is quite risky for employees but is of vital importance for civilians. It is of great importance for firefighters to be both physically and psychologically ready for a task that may arise at any time. The lack of complete physical and psychological readiness of firefighters can lead to irreversible consequences. It can be argued that firefighters working in shifts do not have sufficient physical activity opportunities due to both the undetermined end times and the intense work tempo, but it is essential for firefighters to engage in regular physical activity, and it is obvious that this will positively affect their health status and task performance. The aim of this study was to examine the physical activity, self-handicapping and self-esteem levels of firefighters. Similar studies in the literature are limited. It is believed that this study will contribute to filling the gap in the literature and revealing the physical activity, self-handicapping and self-esteem levels of firefighters. 767 active firefighters in several municipalities voluntarily participated in the research. Ethics Committee Approval was obtained from Hitit University Non-Interventional Researches Ethics Committee. Informed consents were obtained from the participants. SPSS 25.0 (IBM, USA) was used for statistical analysis. Normal distribution of the data was tested by using Q-Q Plot, Shapiro-Wilk and histogram analysis and it was found that the data were not normally distributed. Non-parametric tests were used to test the differences between/among groups and the correlation between variables. The data were collected by using the International Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire to determine the physical activity levels of the participants; the Self-Handicapping Scale which was developed by Jones and Rhodewalt and adapted into Turkish by Akın (2012) to determine self-handicapping levels, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale which was developed by Rosenberg and the Turkish validity-reliability study conducted by Tukuş (2010) to determine self-esteem levels. As a result, it was determined that the physical activity level of the firefighters was at medium and low levels and that the physical activity level had a positive correlation with self-esteem and a low negative correlation with self-handicapping. To increase the physical activity, it is recommended that the physical activity levels of firefighters be monitored periodically by the administration and that periodic monitoring should be made to increase physical fitness levels via promoting the physical activity levels.

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