There are many reasons why individuals are motivated to participate in sports. For athletes to participate in and keep up exercise, investigating the participation motivation of athletes is necessary. The aim of this study was to compare sport participation motivation of athletes in team and individual disciplines. The sample consisted of 265 athletes including four teams from football, volleyball, basketball, and handball and two individual disciplines of kung fu and taekwondo which were randomly selected. The 30-item sports participation motivation questionnaire (PMQ) was used. Analysis of data was conducted by the use of independent-samples t-test. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the sports participation motivation of athletes in a team and individual sports as well as between male and female athletes. But, among the components of the sports participation motivation, only the aspect of achievement in a team and individual sports and the aspect of finding friendship in male and female athletes existed, no other significant difference was observed. The results of this study show that sports discipline and the athlete’s gender is effective in motivating athletes’ continuation and commitment to a physical activity.

Basketball PerformanceThree-Point Shoot Mental FatigueBackground: Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of mental fatigue on three-point shots in skilled basketball players. Methods: This study was semi-experimental. For this purpose, 18 male experienced basketball players were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (control: n=9, experimental: n=9). Participants in the experimental group experienced mental fatigue using strop software and math tests, but the control group did not perform any specific cognitive tasks during this time. Visual Analog Scale and three-point shots were used as a pretest and posttest. For data analyzing, the SPSS 25 was applied, and the significance level was considered at (p<0/05). Results:The results of the study illustrated that spatial working memory played a predictive role in selected attention (same color and font, and different color and font) and performance accuracy; Moreover, mathematical working memory played a predictive role in selected attention (same color and font, and different color and font). However, it did not have a predictive role in performance accuracy. Conclusion:The result of this study supports the theory that mental fatigue had impact on athletic performance. It is suggested that basketball players and coaches consider mental fatigue in sports performance.

The aimed to evaluate the effects of low and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on psychological well-being (PWB) and quality of life (QoL) among older people. Forty-five male Iranian adults aged 65–80 years were selected according to the eligibility criteria and randomly assigned to a low-intensity group (LIG) (40–50% of maximum heart rate), moderate-intensity group (MIG) (60–70% of maximum heart rate) and control group (CG). The exercise protocols consisted of 12 weeks of aerobic exercise (two sessions per week). Psychological well-being and QoL were assessed through the Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale and the World Health Organization QoL Questionnaire. The statistical analysis for psychological well-being indicated that a significant main group (between-group) (F = 11.777, p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.359), time (within-group) (F = 58.983, p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.584) and interaction effect (group × time) (F = 20.146, p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.490) for PWB total score. Bonferroni post-hoc tests revealed that the PWB total score in the MIG group was more significant than both LIG (p = 0.003) and CG (p &lt; 0.001). Results for PWB components including self-acceptance, positive relationships with others, autonomy, purposeful life, and environmental mastery revealed no significant differences (p &gt; 0.05). While there was a significant difference between the groups for personal growth component. Bonferroni post-hoc tests revealed that the personal growth in the MIG group was more significant than both LIG (p = 0.028) and CG (p &lt; 0.001). Result for QoL indicated significant differences for the main group (F = 13.277, p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.387), time (F = 25.533, p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.378) and interaction effect (F = 9.992, p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.332) for QoL total scale. Bonferroni post-hoc tests revealed that the QoL total scale in the MIG group was more significant than both LIG (p = 0.003) and CG (p &lt; 0.001). Results for QoL components including Physical health, Social relationships, Health environment revealed no significant differences (p &gt; 0.05), while there was a significant difference between the groups for the Psychological health component. Bonferroni post-hoc tests revealed that the Psychological health in the MIG group was more significant than both LIG (p = 0.009) and CG (p = 0.002). Therefore, aerobic exercise improves PWB and QoL in older adults, moderate-intensity exercise seems to produce higher benefits than low-intensity, demonstrating a positive dose-response relationship.

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The aim of this study was to study the relationship between trait and state anxiety with force control and adjustment of dominant hand's angle in male athlete and non-athlete students. For this purpose, 200 students (100 athletes and 100 non-athletes) where randomly selected among all male bachelor students of Arak University in the academic year 2012-2013 by simple random method. The mean age of subjects was 21.80±1.96. The required data were collected using personal information questionnaire, Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI), Zhukovski's dominant hand's angle accommodation test, and Ablacova's force control of dominant hand test. The findings showed that there is a strong and positive correlation between trait and state anxiety and kinesthesia in both of the groups. There results also showed that kinesthesia error can predict the trait anxiety (p=0.041) and state anxiety (p=0.011). Study findings indicated that there is a significant relationship between trait and state anxiety and kinesthesia. In addition, non-athletes showed higher levels of anxiety and hallucination. According to the moderate levels of state anxiety in athletes, it can be stated that this study supports the inverted U hypothesis.