Exploratory structural examination of the Satisfaction Scale for Athletes in international football

This study aims to provide a preliminary examination of the reliability and factorial structure of the
Satisfaction Scale for Athletes (SSA) in international football contexts. The SSA, originally validated within the Turkish football league, measures athletes’ satisfaction with key dimensions of the sporting environment, including satisfaction with the coach, team performance, and teammates. The present research focuses on two main objectives: (1) evaluating the internal consistency of the SSA subscales, and (2) exploring its structural organization using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as an exploratory procedure.

The sample consisted of 63 professional and semi-professional male athletes from various international football leagues. Sampling adequacy was supported by a satisfactory Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin index and a significant Bartlett’s test of sphericity. Results indicate satisfactory internal consistency across subscales and provide preliminary support for a three-component structure explaining a substantial proportion of total variance, broadly consistent with the original model.

However, given the exploratory design, modest sample size, and absence of confirmatory factor analysis, findings should be interpreted cautiously and considered as an initial step in the international examination of the instrument rather than definitive evidence of cross-cultural equivalence. Overall, the study suggests the potential applicability of the SSA in international football contexts and highlights the need for further research employing larger, more balanced samples and confirmatory factor analysis to strengthen its structural validation and test measurement invariance across cultural groups.