Investigation of self-efficacy levels of football referees

In this study, we aimed to examine the self-efficacy levels of soccerreferees in the context of some demographic variables (gender, education level, ageof starting refereeing, and ocupation). The study group consisted of a total of 154soccer referees during the 2017-2018 football season of whom 33 (21.4%) werefemales and 121 (78.6%) were males from different regions and classifications ( Xage = 26.87±1.966). The personal information form and the Referee Self-Efficacy Scale(REFS) were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, descriptivestatistics were used to identify self-efficacy levels and to identify demographicvariables. In order to compare self-efficacy levels in respect to arithmetic meansgender and age self efficacy scores, independent t-test was used and one-wayanalysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare self-efficacy levels of educationlevel and occupations. The Tukey’s multiple comparison test was used to determinedifferences between groups. The results revealed that the referees' self-efficacylevels were high and there were significant differences in self-efficacy levels interms of gender and educational status. Thus, it is recommended that highereducation level be prioritized during the referee selection and promotion and thatexperience and physical competence be increased to elevate the self-efficacy levelsof female referees.