This aim of study is to identify the motivational factors that play a role in the athletic engagement of athletes who are based in the region of Southeastern Anatolia. The population consisted of individuals engaged in athletics in Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Region. The study’s sample consisted of 234 participants who were chosen randomly. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check compliance with the normal distribution. The T-Test was conducted to compare the two independent groups of variables with the normal distribution, and the ANOVA and Tukey multiple comparison tests were conducted for the comparison of more than two independent groups of variables with the normal distribution. The frequency, percentage, average, and standard deviation values are provided as descriptive statistics. SPSS 22.0 software package was used for statistical analyses. As a result of the study, it was determined that the most influential factors encouraging individuals to pursue a career in the field of athletics were trainers, physical education teachers, friends and sports programs on TV. Their expectations from athletics were that it would allow them to be healthy, become a national athlete, and make money out of sports through their physical appearance. Their reasons for choosing the field of athletics were to gain success, become successful and healthy, make use of spare time, and a belief in the positive impact of athletics. It was also determined that there was a significant difference between the genders and the total scale and all sub-dimensions of those who participated in the study, a significant difference between their ages and their total scales and sub-dimension of expectations, while there was no significant difference between their ages and their total scales and other sub-dimensions.