Personal Attributes and Sports Participation free essay sample

There are also some gender ideologies suggesting that it is more likable if women participate in sports that are considered feminine and men participate in sports that are viewed as masculine. In this study, researchers proposed that gender is related to sports participation. The Sports Participation Model Questionnaire and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire were administered to 119 College of Arts and Sciences students of Silliman University who participated in the Intramurals. Results of the data gathered showed that there is a weak relationship between personal attributes and sports participation. According to an entrepreneur, RabisonShumba (2011), an individual is the sum total of his/her personal attributes. You can tell who a person is by assessing who they are and how they behave in given circumstances or situations. As observers, we try to understand what caused a behavior through the individual’s personal attributes; likewise we try to predict what the behavior will be with the individual’s personal attributes. This is also true in sports. As spectators in a sports activity, we relate the outcome of the game with the players’ personal attributes, such as gender, age, skills, etc. , so to understand what caused that outcome. We also try to predict the behavior or performance of the player based on his/her personal attributes. Last year, Silliman University showcased sports activities through the Intramurals. Intramural sports activities include ball games such as basketball, softball, volleyball, table and lawn tennis; it also includes swimming, track and field, and so on. Students, both male and female, who participated in the events, possess varying personal attributes and their attitudes towards sports participation might widely vary due to their personal attributes. A specific personal attribute which this study looked into is gender. When people discuss gender relations and sports, they usually focus on issues related to fairness and equity, as well as to ideology and culture (Coakly, 2001). In this research, however, the researchers looked deeper into the subject of the participants’ gender and how their gender is related to their attitude towards sports participation in the Intramurals. Review of Related Literature Sports are defined as institutionalized competitive activities that involve rigorous physical exertion or the use of relative complex physical skills by participants motivated by internal and external rewards (Coakly, 2001). Sport participation on a regular basis has been shown to have positive effects on physical health, psychological enhancement, stress reactivity, and mental well-being, such as reduced depression, anxiety, tension and stress, and increased vigor and clear-mindedness (Koivula, 1999). Participation in sports activities, as long as it is organized with knowledge and skill, can bring not only better health but also discipline, self-awareness, self-confidence, independence and leadership skills. Individuals who participate will often start to feel stronger both physically and psychologically. From a social point of view, they gain experience with teamwork, negotiating, planning, winning and losing. Sport also yields up social networks (Noorani, 2008). There are a variety of sports played in a variety of settings. Sports may be used as a recreation, as a means to exercise and to socialize. One of the many settings in which sports are involved is during the Intramurals, which is the event highlighted in this study. According to the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation or AAHPER (1964), Intramural sports are scheduled competitive and recreational activities organized within a specific community or municipal area, between teams of equivalent age or athletic ability. Intramural activities are offered for both men and women. For most schools and campuses, intramural sports are used to promote wellness and allow students who do not compete on a national level an opportunity to be active as well as to promote fun among students. Intramural sports make an important contribution to the life of today’s college student. It helps young men and women to develop socially, emotionally, and physically as well as adding directly to their educational experiences. It encouraged the continued pattern of physical activity which is so essential to the well-being of our community (AAHPER, 1964). Further, according to AAHPER (1964), objectives of intramurals are truly educational. Some are for immediate satisfaction, such as wholesome achievement, making friends, and good fellowship; others reasons are for the improvement of health, development of personality, ability to meet effectively mental and emotional stresses, and the acquisition of life-long leisure-time skills. Our changing cultural pattern stimulated a greater interest in sports participation by both men and women. And with the development of the field of sport psychology, comes a growing interest and concern over gender differences in the involvement of different sports (Eccles, 1991). According to Loveday (2007), a journalist, gender is a term that is not easily defined. It is a term that has great impact and is possibly one of the most debated issues in modern times. Gender has a different meaning in each society and also carries with it a time element. As time goes on, one society’s definition of gender will change. The term gender has traditionally been used to designate psychological, social and cultural aspects of maleness and femaleness. For example, gender can be defined as the amount of femininity and masculinity found in a person. Given this perspective, there are two genders, masculine and feminine (Kessler McKenna, 1973). The practice of sport is related to a number of assumptions about work and leisure, which are often lived differently by men and women. Women and men tend to engage in different types of physical activity and their attitudes towards sport may be very different (Sever, 2005). In a study conducted by Tomik (2008) on adolescent attitudes towards sport depending on school level, gender and school sports club membership, it was found that more positive attitudes towards physical education and sport were observed among boys than girls. But how does one form the attitude he/she has towards sport? According to Jarvis (2006), there are several factors that influence the formation of one’s attitude towards sports. For one, attitudes towards sports are influence by personality and genes. People high in extroversion and psychoticism tend to have pro-sport attitudes (Jarvis, 2006; Eysenck, 1982). According to Jarvis (2006) and Eysenck (1989), Personality is primarily determined by genetic factors. It is certainly conceivable that genes may influence sporting attitudes. This is not to say that there is a gene for liking sport, but if some aspects of personality are inherited, it may be that we can inherit a predisposition for developing certain kinds of attitudes (p. 62). Other factors that influence the formation of one’s attitude towards sports are through social learning, through parent’s involvement and through the individual’s desire for health and physique enhancement. In social learning, children tend to observe and imitate the behavior of their role models. Thus children are likely to adapt to attitudes in sports they see in their parents (Jarvis, 2006). In parent’s involvement, the extent to which parents actively get involved in children’s sporting activities can affect their attitude to sport. But very high or very low levels of involvement were associated with reduced satisfaction with sport and increase stress levels (Jarvis, 2006). Lastly, in the individual’s desire for health and physique enhancement, the formation of attitude towards sports is influenced through the increasing social pressure on people of all ages and both sexes to maintain a particular body type that is characterized by low fat mass and high muscle mass as well as genuine concern about the rapid rising rates of child and adult obesity and the accompanying health problems pressure people to use sport and exercise to manage weight and fitness (Jarvis, 2006). In other studies, culture also influences the formation of one’s attitude towards sports. The notion of sport as a very masculine activity probably influences quite strongly the way in which men and women view sport (Koivula, 1999). Organized sports are closely tied with the separation between what is correct for women and men to participate in (Ziegler, 2009). Gender differences are exaggerated to a visible extreme. Men generally compete in sports that require muscle and strength such as football, hockey, soccer and basketball, while women generally compete in sports that require flexibility and finesse such as ice skating, gymnastics, cheerleading and tennis. Thus, a sport is considered manly if it requires muscles and strength and is considered womanly if it requires flexibility and finesse (Loveday, 2007). Basically, this gender ideology suggest that it is more likable if women participate in sports that are considered feminine and men participate in sports that are viewed as masculine. However, women do compete in sports that require strength and muscle and some men also compete in sports that require flexibility and finesse. A 2005 analysis of 46 meta-analyses that were conducted during the last two decades of the 20th century underscores that men and women are basically alike in terms of personality, cognitive ability and leadership (American Psychological Association, 2005). According to Loveday (2007): Although both men and women can and do participate in both types of sporting events it is consistently viewed as not womanly or not manly to be an athlete in an event that men or women dont generally compete in. Therefore, when a man pursues ice skating or gymnastics, he loses a lot of his manliness in the eyes of others. When a woman pursues a sport such as basketball or soccer, she loses a lot of her womanliness in the eyes of others (p. 2). The segregation between femininity and masculinity is very evident in sports that it does not come as a surprise as to why various researches about gender and the other subjects that are correlated to it still arise even up to today. Mentioned above were studies on sports by Eccles (1991), Koivula (1991), and Jarvis (2006) that demonstrate the correlation of sports with gender, age, attitude, personality, motivation, and culture. In this study, e will investigate the relationship of the participants’ gender and their attitude towards sports participation. Theoretical Framework A theory by Fritz Heider (1944) demonstrates the intent of every human being is to explain her or his own actions in terms of their perceived causes (Cox, 1998). This theory is called Attribution Theory (Figure 1. ). However, as viewed by Weiner (1985) and Roberts (1982), attributio n theory is far more than a lay person’s theory of perceived motivation. It is a complex theory in which perceived attributions viewed as greatly influencing a person’s actions, feelings, confidence, and motivation. How an athlete feels about herself or himself is directly related to the athlete’s perception of cause and effect (Cox, 1998). Personal Force (Internal) Effort Ability Can (or cannot) Behavioral Outcome Task difficulty Luck Environmental Force (External) Figure 1. Model of Causal Attribution. According to the model of causal attribution, outcomes are attributed internally to the person (personal force) or externally to the environment (environmental force). Effective personal force is composed of the attributional factors ability and effort, while effective environmental force is composed of the attributional factors task difficulty and luck. According to Heider (1944), an interaction occurs between personal force of ability and the environmental force of task difficulty that yields a separate dimension referred to as can (or cannot). This is sensible suggestion. If a task is difficult and yet is accomplished, it must be due to great ability. However, depending on the difficulty of the task and the ability of the subject, several other attributions can give rise to the can (or cannot) dimension (Cox, 1998). One factor that also contributes to the environmental force is luck that can favorably and unfavorably change an outcome in an unsystematic way (Cox, 1998). All these factors (effort, ability, task difficulty, and luck) combine to result in a behavioral outcome. The theory in relation to personal attributes, specifically gender, and sports participation suggests that the impact of success and self-belief in one’s ability depends on the causal attribution made for the success or failure. Attributing success to ability and effort is predicted to have better psychological consequences than attributing successes to luck, task difficulty or external help. Thus, the theory also views that females and males have different ways of how they can increase their skill in various sports. In relation with this study, researchers proposed that gender is the internal force and that the attitude towards sports participation is the behavioral outcome. Conceptual Framework Given Fritz Heider (1944) theoretical background which is the Attribution Theory and with the reviewed related literature regarding sports participation, the researchers were able to construct the personal attributes and sports participation model (figure 2). Personal Attributes * Gender Sports Participation (Intramural) Figure 2. Gender and Sports Participation model. The figure illustrates that personal attributes give rise to sports participation of an individual. The model suggests that the intention of an individual is to point out the individuals’ actions in terms of their effort and ability. Statement of the Problem Silliman University had already organized many Intramurals sports activities, ranging from ball games to swimming and others. Students of Silliman University, both male and female, who participated in the events, usually have different reasons as to why they join the Intramural. In this research, researchers looked into these two variables, personal attribute and sports participation, so as to answer the questions: 1. What are the personal attributes of the participants? 2. What is the manner of sports participation of the participants? 3. Is there a relationship between the between the participants’ personal attributes and their sports participation? Hypotheses The following were the proposed research hypotheses: H1: There is a relationship between gender and attitudes towards sports participation of College of Arts and Sciences players in Silliman University ntramural. H0: There is no relationship between gender and attitudes towards sports participation of College of Arts and Sciences players in Silliman University intramural. Significance of the Study With the studies demonstrating the benefits of habitual participation in sports, one might believe that most people take part regularly in some form of sport, unfortunately, due to some gender ideolo gy in sports, this is not the case. The ideology that some sports are considered masculine- meant only for men, and some sports are feminine- meant only for women, produces negative attitudes. Through this study, researchers may be able to instill in people a positive attitude towards sports and to eradicate the wrong impressions derived from some gender ideologies. CHAPTER II Methodology This chapter describes the variables, the participants, research instruments, procedures of the study and statistical analysis use for the study. Variables In this study, researchers investigated a particular personal attribute which is gender or the masculinity or femininity of an individual and it’s relation to the individual’s sports participation which involved his/her attitude towards sports. Participants The participants of this study were Intramural players from the College of Arts and Sciences in Silliman University. The participants comprised of different year levels that joined in any sports event during the Intramurals. It was recorded that 170 College of Arts and Sciences students participated. With the use of Slovin’s formula, the researchers were able to come up with a sample number of 119 participants. These 119 participants were randomly selected from the list of the population. Instruments This study made use of a 94-item questionnaire integrated from the Personal Attributes Questionnaire or PAQ (Spence, HelmreichStapp, 1973) and the Sport Participation Model Questionnaire or SPMQ (AicinenaEldridge, 2002). Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). It is used to determine the sex-typing of personality. Its two scales (expressivity and instrumentality), measure the degree to which a person can be classified according to masculine or feminine adjectives. Expressivity is associated with feminine behaviors or characteristics, which may include understanding, sympathetic, affectionate, compassionate, tender, sensitive, warm and shy. Conversely, Instrumentality is associated with masculine behaviors or characteristics such as being independent, ambitious, assertive, aggressive, competitive, and risk taking. Although the behaviors or characteristics are associated to femininity or masculinity, it does not connote that femininity is strictly for women and masculinity associated only to men but that masculinity and femininity could be associated to both men and women. Thus, we may be able to have results of masculine male, feminine male, masculine female and feminine female. The PAQ is a 24-item self-report questionnaire in which people are asked to indicate the extent to which they can be characterized in terms of various adjectives traits. The items are divided into three parts, eight items for masculinity, eight items for femininity and the other eight items were originally designed to measure another construct, androgyny, but the measure has generally been abandoned (Smith, n. d. ). For example, a person responding to the questionnaire was asked to indicate, using a scale like that shown below, the extent to which they see themselves as independent. Not all independentABCDEVery independent Wherein A is not at all independent, E is very independent, and C if the participant is in the medium. The items will be scored in the following manner: A = 0, B = 1, C = 2, D = 3, E = 4. To compute the score on femininity subscale of the PAQ, add up the numbers next to items 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 21, and 22. To compute the scores n the masculinity subscale of the PAQ, add up the numbers next to items 2, 6, 10, 16, 17, 19, 20, and 24. So if an individual has high score in femininity but has a low score in masculinity that individual is feminine. And if, an individual garners high score in masculinity and has a low score in femininity that individual then is masculine. If an individual has a high score in femininity and masculinity, that individual then is androgynous. Conversely , if an individual has a low score in both femininity and masculinity, that individual then is undifferentiated. Yet most researchers keep the full 24-item scale intact even though they dont score the androgyny and differentiated subscale (Smith, n. d. ). In our study, we make use of the PAQ to determine the participants’ degree of femininity or masculinity. Sport Participation Model Questionnaire (SPMQ). The SPMQ, developed in 2002 by Aicinena and Eldridge, is a 70-item questionnaire, based upon the characteristics of the modified Power and Performance and Pleasure and Participation Models of sport. In the Power and Performance Model, strength, speed and power are emphasized. Excellence is demonstrated through success with winning serving as the greatest measure of success. Winning is valued more highly if hard work, dedication, sacrifice, risk and pain are evidenced. The body is viewed as a machine and participants should not be concerned with injury. Training should be technologically enhanced and scientific. A clear hierarchy of authority structures exists in the Power and Performance model. Players should be subordinate to coaches. Coaches are to be in control and it should be clear to observers that coaches are in control. Opponents are viewed as enemies. Only the best on a team should play. If an athlete is unskilled and allowed to play, it may cost the team a victory and this is unacceptable. In Pleasure and Participation Model, the primary purpose of participation active participation. Playing is the reason for an individual’s involvement in sport. There is a mind/body/spirit connection. Both the participant and the opponent are considered valued and needed. The participant’s control of his or her body and objects, skilled movement, and demonstration of cunning in the sport environment provide satisfaction. Domination and victory are not requisites of satisfaction. It is possible and desirable for the inclusion of the weak and unskilled. Accommodations are acceptable in terms of rules modifications. Decisions and power are shared in a cooperative manner between coaches and athletes. There is give and take between coaches and athletes (AicinenaEldridge, 2002). The SPMQ is composed of thirty-five statements reflecting a Power and Performance perspective and thirty-five contrasting statements reflective of a Pleasure and Participation orientation. The 70) statements were randomly placed by the authors within the final questionnaire. Subjects are to either agree or disagree with each statement. Subjects are instructed that responses should reflect how they feel about youth sport and school sport, not professional and international sport. Below is a sample item from the instrument: Winning is not the most significant measure of success in the sport experience. Agree ___ Disagree ___ Scoring the SPMQ consisted of awarding a point for every Power and Performance statement that the subject agreed with and for every Pleasure and Participation statement the subject disagreed with. A score reflecting a purely Pleasure and Participation orientation would have been 0. A score reflecting an exclusively Power and Performance orientation on all statements would have been 70. We make use of this test to determine the participants’ attitudes towards sport participation whether it is for Pleasure and Participation or for Power and Performance. Procedure The research was be formally conducted a week after the Intramurals so to diminish if not to avoid extraneous variables. The researchers contacted the participants and inform them of the study and set an agreeable date to conduct the research. The survey questionnaires were given to the participants on the agreed date and were collected afterwards. Statistical Analysis In this study, researchers made use of the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient or Pearson correlation coefficient for short in the treatment of data. Pearson correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength of a linear association between two variables and is denoted by r. Basically, a Pearson product-moment correlation attempts to draw a line of best fit through the data of two variables, and the Pearson correlation coefficient, r, indicates how far away all these data points are to this line of best fit or how well the data points for this new model of best fit.