This paper aims to examine the sports activities of common people who play soccer and understand the characteristics and meaning of sports katharsis they experience as they conduct their sports activities. Accordingly, this paper examined through what...
This paper aims to examine the sports activities of common people who play soccer and understand the characteristics and meaning of sports katharsis they experience as they conduct their sports activities. Accordingly, this paper examined through what process katharsis occurs in the sports activities of soccer and used a phenomenological research method in order to understand the characteristics and significance of sports katharsis experience.Data for this paper was collected through such activities as in-depth interviews, group interviews, and participating observation. The collected data was transcribed and their results were derived through thematic coding, semantic categorization, and semantic conceptualization.The results derived from this study were classified into four categories of the research participants’ understanding; process of imitation; recognition of emotions such as fear, compassion, jealousy, and envy; and experience of katharsis to obtain the following conclusions.First, the reason for continuing the sports activity of soccer for a long time was shown to be the “human” attraction that the sport called soccer possesses.Second, as they engage in the sports activity of soccer, the subjects of this study were shown to have experienced a process of mimesis.Third, the research participants were shown to have experienced emotions of fear, compassion, jealousy, and envy.Fourth, the sports activity participants who had gone through the process of mimesis and recognition of emotions were shown to have experienced a katharsis through release of emotions.In conclusion, the experience of katharsis that appears during the sports activity of soccer was found to be more than mere delight or stress-relief that arises from physical training, but rather a complex psychological operation. Such an operation allowed the research participants to feel increase in the value of sports while doing sports activities and played the role of providing the subjects an opportunity for self-reflection.This study was carried out using as subjects male participants with over five years of experience. Accordingly, future research needs to be carried out on the difference between men and women, or the difference due to length of experience.