The Function of Religious Rituals in Psychological Coping and Motivational Meaning-Making Among Professional Football Players: Evidence from Turkey.

This study investigates how professional football players in Turkey experience and interpret religious rituals in relation to motivational meaning-making and psychological coping. Employing an exploratory qualitative research design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 professional male football players competing in the Turkish Super League during the 2024-2025 season. Interviews were conducted in Turkish via online video-conferencing platforms and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants described their religious rituals as active psychological coping mechanisms for managing performance anxiety, stress, and uncertainty inherent in elite sport, extending beyond mere expressions of faith. Specifically, they characterized these rituals as emotional regulators that fostered a sense of control, self-efficacy, and psychological readiness. Faith was also reported as a source of spiritual resilience, particularly during career crises such as injury and loss of form. A notable finding is that participants largely avoided institutional religious accessories, instead attributing personal significance to secular objects connected to meaningful relationships and life experiences. The accounts gathered here suggest that religious rituals operate as psychological resources through which athletes construct motivational meaning and prepare themselves mentally, within the culturally specific context of Turkish professional football.