Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part I (2025)

This study compared empathy and locus of control between 100 male university athletes (n=50 individual sports: badminton, swimming, wrestling, boxing, table tennis; n=50 team sports: volleyball, cricket, kabaddi, football, hockey) from Indian universities using purposive sampling. Empathy was assessed via Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright's Empathy Quotient, and locus of control via Rotter's Locus of Control Scale. Descriptive statistics showed above-average empathy in both groups (individual: M=55.08, SD=6.78; team: M=53.38, SD=6.54), with no significant difference (t=1.276, p=0.205, df=98). For locus of control, individual athletes exhibited internal orientation (M=12.08, SD=2.13), while team athletes showed external orientation (M=13.04, SD=2.59), with a significant difference (t=-2.023, p=0.046, df=98). Findings indicate sport type does not differentiate empathy but shapes control beliefs, with individual sports fostering internal locus due to personal accountability and team sports promoting external attributions via shared factors. These results align with Rotter (1966), Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright (2004), Jowett and Shanmugam (2016), and Choudhary and Mehta (2020), suggesting implications for tailored psychological interventions in coaching.