EXTERNALITY AND THE TENDENCY FOR COMPARING WITH OTHERS AS DETERMINANTS OF THE SEL – ESTEEM IN MALE AND FEMALE ATHLETES

The objective of this paper is to explore externality and the tendency for comparing with others as the determinants of self-esteem in athletes. The research sample was comprised of 125 athletes, with the average age of 24 (M= 23,84; SD=4,3). The respondents included 99 male athletes (79,2%) and 26 female athletes (20,8%). The average time spent in performing the different sport activities is 12 years (M=11,62; SD=5,2). The instruments used in this research include: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Externality Questionnaire, The Scale of Tendency for Comparing with Others and socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire. The results show that the athletes possess the relatively high levels of self-confidence and externality, and distinct tendency to compare themselves to other people. The significant differences between male and female athletes regarding analyzed components were not found. Externality variable and the tendency to compare with others variable have a significant contribution to the prediction of the dependant self-esteem variable (Beta = .328, .289, p < 0,05). The model (Tendency to compare with others and externality) both explain the self-esteem variable with 42,7% (R=0, 427, p