Comparison of Social Interactions between Student Athletes and Students Active in Electronic Games

The aim of this study was to compare social interactions between student athletes and students active in computer games. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-comparative in nature, conducted in the field using a questionnaire. The statistical population included all male high school students (second level) in the city of Bojnord. Since the exact size of the population was not known, the sample size was estimated at 210—70 individuals in each group—using G*Power software, and convenience sampling was employed. The tool used for data collection was the standardized Social Interaction Questionnaire by Lee and Robinson (1998). To analyze the statistical data, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, including the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, one-sample t-test, ANOVA, and Tukey’s post hoc test, were conducted using SPSS version 26. The results of the one-sample t-test indicated that the social interaction status of adolescents active in traditional sports, electronic sports, and the control group was favorable. Moreover, the results of the ANOVA test showed that there is a significant difference in the variable of social interactions among the three groups: adolescents active in traditional sports, adolescents active in electronic sports, and the control group.