The purpose of this study was to examine motivational factors that would increase middle and high school students participation in physical education. This study is intended to better understand what factors students lack in order for participation in physical education activities and to stress the importance of physical education acitivity for a healthy lifestyle.

Few studies in the sporting realm have been conducted to verify the findings from industrial or organizational settings regarding the strong positive motivational effects of goal setting (Locke et al., 1981). Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to determine the effects of three levels of goal difficulty and two levels of feedback on the performance of males undertaking an endurance task. Performance results were analyzed using a 2 x 3 x 2 (feedback x goal difficulty x trials) ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor. Results indicated a significant goal by trials interaction with both specific difficult goal groups improving from trial one to trial two. The "do best" group showed no significant improvements. It was also found that only the difficult, but not the extremely difficult goal group performed significantly better than the "do best" goal group. No significant differences were found between the two feedback groups. The results are discussed in terms of Locke's (1968) original theory of goal setting.

The present investigation was to determine if combining two mental preparation strategies would be more effective than a single strategy. In Experiment 1, subjects (n=40) performed basketball free-throws (20 shots) using one of these mental strategies: 1) imagery, 2) relaxation, 3)relaxation plus imagery, 4) placebo control. Results indicated a significant main effect with the imagery group performing significantly better than the placebo control group. In Experiment 2, subjects (n=40) performed five trials on an isokinetic leg-strength task using one of the following mental strategies: 1) preparatory arousal, 2) imagery, 3) preparatory arousal plus imagery, 4) placebo control. Results indicated a significant trials main effect with all subjects improving over time. State anxiety results indicated that the combination group exhibited higher levels of anxiety than all other conditions.

Sports and its effects on children have been researched for the benefits that it may bring. The purpose of this study is to see if sports competency, assessed by both peer reports and self-reports, benefits both boys and girls and whether it protects children who generally are gender-atypical from adjustment difficulties and also to see if there are any interactive influences of cross-gender typing and sports competency on self-esteem, depression, and other adjustment indexes. Our results found that there was a significant interaction between sports competence and cross-gender typing when looking at popularity and also a significant interaction between sports self-efficacy and cross-gender typing when looking at self-esteem. Our data did not provide sufficient support for our buffering hypothesis, but it allowed for us to conclude that self-esteem of low-cross-gender-typed children profit more from high sports self-efficacy and suffer more from low sports self-efficacy than the self-esteem of high-cross-gender-typed children. / by Arian Frias. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Typescript (photocopy) / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

No description available.

Fifty adolescent ice-hockey players, ranging from 13 to 15 years of age, were studied in order to determine whether high performance players differed from non-high performance players on measures of social cognition in the sport context. Two Divisions of Bantam hockey players were studied: (1) Division A or high performance players, and (2) Division B or non-high performance players. Participants were examined for differences on a measure which assessed level of Case's neo-Piagetian Central Social Conceptual Structure (CCS; Case, 1992) and for differences on three measures of elaborations on the basic structure. No differences were found between groups in a Multivariate Analysis of Variance, with participant's weight and Division of play as independent variables, on the four dependent variables. A Hotellings T2 analysis revealed no differences between high and non-high performance players of the same chronological age on Case's CCS. Univariate ANOVAs following the main analysis revealed no differences between the two groups of players in Concentration which is the ability to detect advance cues which would predict opponent's actions. High performance players demonstrated higher levels than non-high performance players in Flexibility, which is the ability to provide adequate solutions to social game problems. High performance players also demonstrated a greater orientation toward Intensity which is an orientation toward achieving Mastery goals (Dweck, 1992) than non-high performance players. Seven factors were obtained in an oblique Principal Components analysis of the Concentration scale. An ANOVA of Division of play on the first principal component revealed no significant differences between high and non-high performers. Number of words used in responding to the problem set assessing CCS were correlated with Structural Level (.56, p <.01) and Flexibility (.47, p <.01). The findings have the following implications for theory and practice in the area of high performance: (1) structural level, which is largely maturational, does not account for differences between high and non-high performers, (2) encapsulated abilities, which appear to have a high learning component, explain differences between high and non-high performers, (3) significant increases in performance will most likely occur as a result of efforts to develop the encapsulated component of development rather than the structural component.

Girls' participation in physical education, sport and other physical activity was examined relative to their levels of Perceived Sport Competence, Body Attractiveness, Physical Self Worth and Social Physique Anxiety. Two hundred and thirteen grade 11 girls from two co-educational and two single sex Toronto high schools completed questionnaires designed to assess physical activity participation and these psychological attributes. T-tests verified that there were no differences on the psychological measures between the two types of schools. On the basis of the girls' responses, they were divided into non, low, medium and high participant groups. The relationships between physical activity participation and the selected psychological measures were analyzed by Pearson correlations. Analysis of Variance's (participant groups x psychological construct) determined where differences existed among participant groups. The results revealed that high level participants had greater Perceived Sport Competence, Body Attractiveness, Physical Self Worth levels than the participants at the lower levels. Social Physique Anxiety was unrelated to physical activity participation. Perceived Sport Competence was the best predictor of participation.

Occupational fitness programs have enjoyed enormous popularity over the course of the past decade. Their continuing penetration into all sectors of the business community coupled with the rapid growth of organizations serving professional fitness personnel, suggests that their presence may be permanent. A major reason for the popularity of occupational fitness programs, is the claim that fitness programs can reduce employee absenteeism. Two important issues at this time are: (1) the role of physical fitness in mediating sickness absence behavior, and, (2) the role of participation in occupational fitness programs as a way of enhancing worker attendance motivation. These issues fit in well with the Steers & Rhodes (1978) Process Model, a conceptual framework which deals with employee absenteeism from the standpoints of ability to attend (ie. high fitness) and motivation to attend (ie. high morale). The Steers & Rhodes theoretical model was chosen as an appropriate vehicle to guide this study. Part I reviewed the claim that physical fitness as a physiological state, is inversely related to sickness absence among employees. The literature review suggested that fit employees would miss fewer days from work than unfit employees. The prediction that physical fitness and sickness absence will be inversely related, formed the core of the hypotheses generated in Part I. In addition, hypotheses were also developed concerning the possible effects of gender, age, length of service and company affiliation. Correlational analyses were performed on several physiological and absence variables obtained from a sample of employees from the years 1979 through 1984. Modest but significant inverse correlations were found to exist between MVO₂ and a number of different absence measures. The magnitude of these correlations disappeared in some cases when the groups were controlled for gender. Significant correlations were also found between variables such as length of service and absence or age and absence. Absence patterns for males and females and management and classified employees also showed significant group differences. These results point to the need to consider these personal and socio cultural variables when attempting to describe any relationships between occupational fitness and absenteeism. Part II chose the Steers & Rhodes concept of motivation to attend. Based on the review of literature, it was expected that participants in the company fitness program would report positive changes in a number of attitudinal and personal variables. A simple questionnaire was developed to assess this change, and the entire population of a very large (n=1076) corporate fitness program was polled. Respondents in the main, indicated a significant improvement in their personal perception of a number of different attitudinal variables. The magnitude of this improvement was significantly related to the length of time they have been members of the program and their degree of participation in the program / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate