Physical education candidate teachers’ beliefs about vocational self-esteem

The purpose of this study was to determine epistemological belief and vocational self-esteem physical education candidate teachers of Physical Education and Sports Department in 3 different universities, and also to examine effect of epistemological beliefs on vocational self-esteem. A total of 346 candidate teacher respondents (137 female and 209 male) participated in the study. Epistemological Beliefs and Vocational Self-Esteem Scale were used to determine candidate teachers’ epistemological beliefs and vocational self-esteem levels, respectively. Independent sample t test, bivariate correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the analyses, there was a negative moderate-level significant relationship between Vocational Self-Esteem and two subscales of Epistemological Beliefs scale (The Belief That Learning Depends on Effort and the Belief That Learning Depends on Ability). However, there was no relationship between vocational self-esteem and the belief that there is only one right answer subscale. In addition, The Belief That Learning Depends on Effort and The Belief That Learning Depends on Ability were the negative and significant predictors of Vocational Self Esteem