This study investigated attitudes toward physical activity (ATPA) among male and female students in three types of secondary schools in Beijing, China. Physical activity was viewed as a nine-dimensional social phenomenon in this study. The data were obtained by administering a modified version of Kenyon's Attitude Toward Physical Activity Scale and a general information inventory to 390 students randomly selected from three schools: a general school, a key school and a spare-time sport school. The MANOVA of the data revealed that Chinese students had favorable attitudes toward most of the nine dimensions of physical activity. In comparison, males and females evaluated seven of the nine types of physical activity differently. Students from different schools differed in their attitudes toward all of the nine forms of physical activity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, D.M. (1963): Attitude toward physical activity in coeducational and noncoeducational physical education programs. Ph. D. Dissertation, Southern Illinois University.
2.
Albinson, J.G. (1974): Attitude measurement in physical education: A review and discussion. Paper presented at the 6th Canadian Symposium for psychomotor learning and sport psychology, Halifax, Nova Scotia .
3.
Alderman, R.B. (1970): A socio-psychological assessment of attitude toward physical activity in champion athletes. Research Quarterly , 41: 1-9.
4.
Alderman, R.B. (1974): Psychological Behavior in Sport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: W. B. Saunsers.
5.
Apgar, F.M. (1977): Emphasis placed on winning in athletics by male high school students. Research Quarterly, 48: 253-259.
6.
Bird, E.I. (1975): Pre- and post-performance factors in orienteering . Mouvement, October: 357-365.
7.
Cheng, H. (1982): A comparison of players' and coaches' attitudes toward little league baseball in the states of Oregon and Washington and Taiwan, the Republic of China. Comparative Physical Education and Sport, 11 (3): 13-19.
8.
Cunningham, S.D. (1971): A comparison of attitudes toward physical activity by male and female students in the required education activity program of North Texas State University. Completed Research in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 13: 148.
9.
Devinates, V.G. (1980): Attitudinal differences between team sport athletes and individual sport athletes. M. A. Thesis, Northwestern University.
Greebsley, R.J. and Gronbech, C.E. (1981): Physical performance, sex, and race as factors in the attitude of intermediate school children toward physical activity. Paper presented at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 96th Anniversary National Easter District Convention. Boston, Mass., April 13-17, unpublished.
12.
Gronbech, C.E. (1981): Skill, sex, race and attitude toward participation in physical activity. Paper presented at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education.
13.
Recreation and Dance, 96th Anniversary National Easter District Convention. Boston, Mass., April 13-17, unpublished.
14.
Hergert, L.J. (1970): An exploratory study of attitudes toward physical activity as expressed by university students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 30-A: 3760-A.
15.
Huskel, E.W. (1926): Should Christians play on Sunday? Literary Digest, 8: 27-28.
16.
Kenyon, G.S. (1965): Assessing attitudes toward sport and activity . Paper presented at the First International Congress of Psychology of Sport. Rome, Italy, April 24. Kenyon, G.S. (1968a): A conceputal model for characterizing physical activity. Research Quarterly, 39: 96-105.
17.
Kenyon, G.S. (1968b): Six scales for assessing attitude toward physical activity. Research Quarterly, 39: 566-574.
18.
Kenyon, G.S. (1968c): Values Held for Physical Activity by Selected Secondary School Students in Canada, Australia, England and the United States . Washington D. C.: United States Government Printing Office.
19.
Loy, J., Birrell, S. and Rose, D. (1975): The professionalization of attitude toward play as a function of selected social identities and level of sport participation . In Simri, U. (ED.). Proceedings of the International Seminar on Play in Physical Education and Sport. Netanya, Israel: Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport, 1975Physical Education and Sport . Tel Aviv, Israel, March 31-April3.
20.
Maclock, M.C. (1970): Attitude of secondary school pupils toward participation in physical activity. M. S. Thesis, Queen's University , Belfast.
21.
McPherson, B.D. and Yuhasz, M.S. (1968): An inventory for assessing men's attitudes toward exercise and physical activity. Research Quarterly, 39: 218-220.
22.
Melcher, N. and Sage, G.H. (1978): Relationship between parental attitudes toward physical activity and the motor competence of their daughters. International Review of Sport Sociology, 3 (13): 75-87.
23.
Mize, M. (1979): Attitude toward physical activity as a function of sex-role orientation. Ph. D. Thesis, Southern Illinois University.
24.
Mullins, M. (1969): Attitude toward multidimensional physical activity as a function of race, sex and socio-economic level. Ph. D. Dissertation, Florida State University.
25.
Nichols, A.K. (1974): Attitudes to physical activity and some associated variables amongst secondary schoolchildren. British Society of Sport Psychology Annual Conference, Eighth Proceedings. Edited by Brooke, J. D., Salford , England.
26.
Payne, E.B. (1974): Attitude toward physical activity of physical education majors. M. Sc. Thesis, Ithaca College.
27.
Richardson, C.E. (1960): Thurstone scale for measuring attitudes of college students toward physical fitness and exercise. Research Quarterly , 31: 628-642.
28.
Roth, L.G. (1929): Are sports harmful for women? Forum, 81 (May): 313-318.
29.
Schutz, R.W., Smoll, F.L. and Wood, T.M.: Physical activity and sport: attitudes and perceptions of young Canadian athletes . Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Science, 6(1): 32-39.
30.
Schutz, R.W., Smoll, F.L. and Wood, T.M.: A Psychometric analysis of an inventory of assessing children's attitudes toward physical activity. Journal of Sport Psychology, 4: 321-344.
31.
Semotiuk, D.M. (1967): The Attitude Toward Interests in Physical activity of Edmonton Secondary School Students. Edmonton, Alberta : University of Alberta, Faculty of Physical Education Research Unit Report 10.
32.
Simon, J.A. and Smoll, F.L. (1974): An instrument for assessing children's attitudes toward physical activity. Research Quarterly, 47: 797-803.
33.
Simpson, D. (1970): Attitudes of varsity athletes toward physical activity. Completed Research in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 12: 229.
34.
Singer, R., Eberspaecher, H., Rehs, J. and Bose, K1. (1978): Experience with a German Version of the Kenyon Scale (ATPA). In Simri, Uriel (Ed.). Proceedings of the International Symposium on Psychological Assessment in Sport. Netanya, Israel: Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport.
35.
Specht, D. (1981): Reliability: an analysis of additive scales/repeated measures ANOVA. In Hadlai Hall, C. and Nie, N.FISPSS Updated 7-9FR , New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company .
36.
Staub, S.M.: Attitude of senior high school students toward physical activity who participated in traditional as opposed to lifetime sports in physical education programs . M. S. Thesis, Ithaca College.
37.
Thwing, C.F. (1902): Football: Is the game worth saving? Independent, 54: 1167-1174. Wear, C.L. (1951): The evaluation of attitude toward physical education as an activity course . Research Quarterly, 22: 114-126.
38.
Wear, C.L. (1955): Construction of equivalent forms of an attitude scale. Research Quarterly, 26: 113-119.
39.
Youngen, L.J. (1972): Attitudes toward physical activity as a function of the approval motive in first-year college females. Dissertation Abstracts International, 32-A: 6176-A. Zaichkowsky, L.B. (1977): Comments on the factorial validity of Kenyon's Attitude Toward Physical Activity Inventory. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences , 3 (3): 144-146.
